Small Colorado town on edge after bicyclist’s shooting death
May 20, 2015, 6:37 AM
WINDSOR, Colo. (AP) — Residents in a small northern Colorado town are on edge after a bicyclist was shot and killed on a rural road, about a month after a woman was shot in the neck as she drove through the area on a busy highway.
A passing driver found the body of John Jacoby, 48, on Monday alongside a road in Windsor, a town of about 19,000 southeast of Fort Collins. He was shot twice sometime that morning.
Authorities say there is nothing to link the two shootings, but the FBI is helping investigate.
The shootings also follow a series of reports of people having their windows mysteriously shattered while driving in northern Colorado. Investigators so far have found no evidence of gunshots in those cases.
“Half the town is very scared and the other half is sad,” Tony Bates, a longtime friend of Jacoby’s, told The Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper. “I went from being sad to angry — really angry — and so are a lot of other people in this town. This just doesn’t happen in this town.”
Bates said he initially thought the shooting was random, “but then you hear that he was shot twice, and that is not random.”
Jacoby’s death came less than a month after Cori Romero was shot in the neck on Interstate 25 near Windsor. Romero was driving April 22 when her windshield suddenly shattered, and she realized she was wounded, authorities said. She managed to pull over and call for help.
Neither the police nor FBI disclosed details about why the FBI is helping investigate Jacoby’s death, Windsor’s first homicide in eight years.
FBI spokeswoman Amy Sanders said she could not comment on the details of the agency’s involvement because of the ongoing investigation.
Around the time that Romero was shot, a series of motorists reported having their vehicle windows shattered while driving in Larimer and Weld counties.
In one case, a sheriff’s van transporting prisoners was hit by a projectile on I-25, shattering a passenger window, authorities said. In another, a motorist said his front driver’s side window was broken and might have been shot out near Interstate 76 in Weld County. Another man said his rear window was shattered in Loveland.
No injuries were reported, and authorities have not found proof that bullets broke the windows.
Jacoby worked as a part-time park caretaker for the town and as a grocery store bagger, according to the Coloradoan. He was well-known in Windsor and rarely missed a Windsor High School football, basketball or baseball game.
“He would always come in early to the parks shop and chat, especially about sports,” Parks & Open Space Manager Wade Willis said. “He seemed to have a special bond with everyone he encountered.”
Jacoby did not have a driver’s license and rode his bike every day. His funeral will be held Friday.
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