Police apologise for leaving body of bow-and-arrow victim outside for HOURS in full public view
- Body of Heidi Arnold, 42, was left outside her home for hours after she was stabbed to death by Christopher Krumm on Friday
- The 25-year-old then went to Casper College and shot his father in the head with a high powered bow and arrow after barging into his classroom
- Despite being severely wounded the father, James Krumm, 56, distracted his son so his students could flee
View
comments
The police chief leading the investigation into a savage bow-and-arrow classroom killing in Wyoming has apologised for leaving the body of one of the victims lying in the street for hours.
Casper police chief Chris Walsh said his team tried to obscure the scene where Heidi Arnold, 42, was stabbed to death by Christopher Krumm, 25, on Friday, before he murdered his father, James Krumm, at the nearby Casper College, but it 'clearly wasn't enough'.
Many residents complained after the body of the woman, a math teacher at the same school, was left in full view of passersby while police investigated both the crime scenes.
Sorry: Casper police chief Chris Walsh, left, said his team tried to obscure the scene where Heidi Arnold, 42, right, was stabbed to death on Friday but it clearly wasn't enough
'During the course of the day at the Hawthorne crime scene the victim was exposed outside,' Mr Walsh told K2Radio.com. 'The wind was significant and made it so a tent was not a feasible option.
'Efforts were made to obscure the scene by vehicles but it clearly was not enough. We found we were not as prepared for this type of scene as we should have been. We will correct that.
RELATED ARTICLES
Man kidnapped and forced inside car trunk reveals terrifying... 
Desperate parents of Yale student search for justice 14...
Share this article
Share'I have heard the many concerns about this and agree with them. Please accept my personal apology.'
Meanwhile, a student who watched as Mr Krumm was shot in the head with a high powered bow-and-arrow has described the horrific attack.
Casper College student Alexus Knight told KTWO.com that she thought the younger Mr Krumm was at first wanting to show weapon to his father but didn't think he'd use it.
'Even while it was happening it really didn't register until this other kid in my class literally ran over and grabbed my by the shoulders and said, 'Run, run!' Ms Knight said.
'Killer': Christopher Krumm, pictured in 1994, stabbed himself to death after killing his college professor father and his father's girlfriend
Father figure: Students said Mr Krumm, pictured left with Ms Arnold, was like a father to many at the college
Police say the instructor's son, from Vernon, Connecticut, stabbed himself to death in front of a handful of students after killing his father.
Ms Knight said she got the impression that Mr Krumm was trying to get away from his son after the arrow hit him. She said she ran from the classroom and hid in a bathroom until police arrived.
The computer science instructor was like a second father to many students, she said.
On Monday, it was revealed that Christopher Krumm blamed his community college professor father for apparently giving him Asperger syndrome and said he should have never been allowed to pass along the genetic disorder.
Mr Krumm's bizarre statement to a neighbor offers the first clue into the rage that drove him to drive 2,000 miles cross-country and kill his father with a bow-and-arrow and stab Ms Arnold to death before taking his own life.
On Saturday, a bomb squad searched Mr Krumm's home in Vernon, Connecticut, half a continent away from the crime scene at Casper College in Wyoming.
James Krumm, 56, is being hailed a hero after he fought off his son, despite being shot through the head with an arrow. His efforts allowed the six students in his class to escape, police say.
Mess: This is a glimpse of Christopher Krumm's tiny, messy apartment in Vernon, Connecticut, which a police bomb squad searched on Saturday
Search: The bomb squad searched Christopher Krumm's apartment in Vernon, Connecticut, 2,000 miles from the crime scenes in Casper, Wyoming
Before attacking his father, Christopher Krumm, 25, killed his father's girlfriend, Heidi Arnold, 42 - slashing her to death outside the home she shared with James.
The Hartford Courant reports that Christopher Krumm claimed to his neighbor that he had Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that can make social interaction difficult.
'He gave me a ride home from McDonald's once,' Matt DiPinto told the newspaper.
'He told me his dad gave him Asperger's, that his dad shouldn't have passed it on. He said his dad should be castrated. I didn't know him that well, he just kind of said it out of nowhere, so that kind of threw me off a little.'
RELATED ARTICLES
- Man kidnapped and forced inside car trunk reveals terrifying... Desperate parents of Yale student search for justice 14...
Share this article
ShareResidents of the apartment building where Krumm lived were evacuated on Saturday as a police bomb squad searched his room.
Video shot by New England Cable News shows the tiny apartment was strewn with boxes and dirty clothing.
Friends say he moved to Connecticut from Wyoming after getting an electrical engineering job.
According to police, James Krumm wrestled with his son after the young man barged into his computer science class and shot him in the head with the high-powered bow and arrow.
Despite being severely wounded, he managed to distract his killer while the handful of students in the Casper College classroom escaped.
Motive: Police are trying to figure out what motivated Christopher Krumm, pictured second from right, to attack his father and Arnold
When police arrived at the classroom after the bow-and-arrow attack, they found Christopher Krumm bleeding from self-inflicted knife wounds and taking his last breaths.
James Krumm was dead, Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh said.
'I can tell you the courage that was demonstrated by Mr Krumm was absolutely without equal,' he said, adding that the instructor's actions could offer some measure of comfort to those affected by the killings.
Authorities believe 'around six' students were in the classroom when Christopher Krumm entered, Casper police spokesman Justin Smith said. No students were hurt.
Walsh said police still were trying to figure out what motivated Christopher Krumm to attack his father and girlfriend, 42-year-old Heidi Arnold, a math instructor at the college. Arnold died of multiple stab wounds.
After shooting his father with the arrow, Christopher Krumm stabbed himself, then fatally stabbed his father in the chest in a struggle in the classroom, Walsh said.
Police began getting reports about the attack on Arnold soon after they responded by the dozen to the campus attack. Authorities locked down the campus for two hours while they scoured the grounds for any other attackers. They were reassured that Christopher Krumm acted alone.
He had smuggled the compound bow - a type much more powerful and effective for hunting than a simple, wooden bow - onto campus beneath a blanket, Walsh said.
He said Christopher Krumm also had two knives with him, and the knife used was 'very large.'
Arnold's body was found in the gutter of her street, and evidence suggested much of the attack occurred outside the home, Walsh said.
Crime scene: Investigators' tape surrounded the home of Casper College professors Jim Krumm and Heidi Arnold on Saturday
Searching for clues: The couple's cars were also cordoned off after the horrific slayings
Neighbor Heather Meier said she came home from work on Friday afternoon after picking up her seven-year-old daughter from school, and the two saw Arnold's body still lying in the street.
'As soon as we got home, we just shut the curtains,' she said on Saturday. 'You know, tried to just watch some TV, have some snacks, mind our own business.'
Across the street from her home, crime tape cordoned off Krumm and Arnold's faded blue and yellow house and part of the street. Meier, who has lived in the neighborhood for two years, said she met Arnold and James Krumm only once a few months ago and described them as quiet and very private.
Casper College instructor Kevin McDermott said Arnold and James Krumm were well-liked on campus.
'I knew these people pretty well, so it's hurting me. ... It's breaking my heart,' said McDermott, who teachers algebra and computer networking at the school. 'They were really good, kind-hearted people. People like Jim and Heidi are what make Casper College such a great college.'
McDermott described James Krumm as a 'real kind and gentle-mannered guy' who was well-respected by his students.
Killer: Christopher Krumm, 25, first stabbed his dad's girlfriend before heading to Casper College, where he shot his father with a bow and arrow
'Computer science majors took most of their classes from Jim. He was their adviser, and he had a big impact on them,' he said.
McDermott added Arnold was a great teacher who 'taught the tough stuff' and maintained a sunny disposition - 'a person who always had a smile on her face.'
Chris Unruh, a student in one of Arnold's pre-calculus classes this fall, said she was a kind instructor who was excited about recently getting two dogs.
'She cared about her students,' said Unruh, 18. 'She wanted all of them to succeed.'
Investigators said Christopher Krumm had recently driven to Casper from Connecticut and had been staying at a local hotel. He had no significant history of encounters with police.
Authorities were uncertain what went awry in his relationship with his father.
'It's difficult to say. I don't think it was very close,' Walsh said.
In Vernon, Conn., police Sgt. Timothy O'Connor said officers executed a search warrant at Christopher Krumm's last known address on Friday to help authorities in Casper.
He didn't know what investigators were looking for or may have found at the home.
'Whatever was recovered will be turned over to Wyoming because it is an active investigation,' O'Connor said.
Christopher Krumm's previous addresses include one in the western Massachusetts city of Springfield and others in the Colorado cities of Golden, Fort Collins and Lakewood.
Casper, population 56,000, is about 250 miles northwest of Denver and Wyoming's second-largest city after the state capital, Cheyenne. Wyomingites refer to Casper as the 'Oil City' because it is a hub of the state's oil industry.
On Duty: Police officers responded in full tactical gear to the campus attack at Casper College.
No Suspects: Police say they no longer have any suspects, suggesting that the attacker may have been one of the three dead.
Casper College is one of seven colleges in Wyoming's community college system. The campus was mostly quiet on Saturday morning. Fathers and sons shot hoops in the school gym. A small group of drama students rehearsed a play in the school theater just across the street from the attack.
The building where the attack happened remained cordoned off by police tape that whipped in a brisk wind. A security guard let students back in, one at a time, to retrieve belongings they'd left behind.
Andra Charter, a 20-year-old sophomore, emerged with a coffee mug. She recalled hearing screams outside her biology class before getting word about what had happened.
'As we were walking out, there was a girl screaming, 'There's somebody stabbing Mr. Krumm!'' Charter said.
James Krumm was head of the college's computer science department. He was born north of London and also spent part of his childhood in Germany, according to the college website.
He held degrees from Casper College, a bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Wyoming and a master's in computer science from Colorado State University.
Arnold held a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Oregon and a bachelor's degree in math from University of California Davis.
Lockdown: Casper College was put on lockdown after apparent bow and arrow attack that left three people dead.
Tragedy: Students and staff listen to a new conference discussing the apparent murder-suicide on their campus.
The college planned a candlelight vigil and memorial service on Tuesday.
Christopher Krumm graduated from the University of Colorado in 2008, where he studied in the school's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
'I want to emphasize that this is a horrible tragedy,' Walsh said earlier. 'And I want the city to... just feel safe right now. There is no one at large.'
The attack at the two-year community college in Casper occurred just before 9am in a classroom on the science building's third floor. All students and staff were evacuated from the building.
The college sent out a campus-wide alert via text message and email within two minutes of receiving word of the attack at 9.06am, school spokesman Rich Fujita said.
The lockdown ended at about 11am after school officials received word that police were no longer searching for a suspect.
There are fewer classes on Fridays than any other day of the week at Casper College, so only between 1,500 and 2,000 of the college's 5,000 students were there, Fujita added.
RAW SCENE VIDEO: Aftermath of the college attacks:
Political science instructor Chris Henrichsen said he was showing the film Frost/Nixon to his government class when he stepped into the hall to get something for a student and was told a homicide had occurred on campus.
He went back to his classroom, where students were getting messages about the campus lockdown on their phones.
'We locked the door and waited for further instruction,' Henrichsen said.
The students were later sent home, but some who parked near a different campus building where the attack occurred had to leave their cars there, Henrichsen said.
About two miles away, Dave Larsen said he was headed to the gym when he drove past a body in a gutter with two people standing over it, one talking on a cellphone.
Larsen lives about a block from the location of the body, which was later revealed to be that of Arnold. It was found in the well-kept neighborhood of mostly single-story houses.
Emergency vehicles had the street blocked off on Friday afternoon.
Scene: The horrific murder-suicide took place in the science building of the community college
Walsh said 33 law enforcement officers from different agencies responded to the college after receiving reports of the attack. He said authorities first thought it might have been an 'active-shooter-type situation.'
'We quickly contained the building and started a sweep through the building,' he said.
Walsh said that within minutes of the initial call, there was another report of a traumatic injury about two miles southwest of campus. That victim was found in the street, the Star-Tribune reported.
A meeting was held in the afternoon for the 150 teachers and students who remained at the school after classes were dismissed. College president Walt Nolte addressed them, calling it the worst day of his more than 40 years in higher education and encouraging the community to come together.
'It is particularly painful because of our size,' Fujita said of the small, tight-knit campus.
Counselors were speaking to students and planned to be available through the weekend. About 450 students live on campus.
Classes are due to resume on Monday.
'We agreed it doesn't do any good to just set the students loose. It makes the most sense to have them come back to campus, where they can get help if they need help and come to terms with what happened,' Fujita said.
Investigation: Police were concerned there could be a gunman at large on the campus or in the town
Walsh said police train for such incidents but had no warning of Friday's violence.
Wyoming governor Matt Mead, who went to the campus on Friday evening, said it was too early to assess security precautions at the college.
'There's no sense in doing that now until we understand fully what has taken place,' he said.
The governor added that the focus now 'should be on the victims' family, the community college family, the president, the trustees and the students, and making sure we're attending to any of their needs.'
Casper College opened in 1945 as the state's first junior college and moved to its current site 10 years later. The campus consists of 28 buildings on more than 200 acres. The college provides more than 140 academic-transfer, technical and career programs.
Casper is Wyoming's second-largest city with a population of about 56,000. Wyoming residents refer to it as the 'Oil City' because it's a hub for the state's oil industry.
The first look inside Christopher Krumm's apartment
Watch the press conference here
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2Fc4CSaXBtZ3Odv6q%2F06inoZ2iYpizwcymZImnnJ6wpnnAqaalp5eewKZ5y56Yr6GenHqju8OyZJunp2Kus77OsGSvoZOptq55zq6rrKGUmnqJm7SLimaopZe5qq%2BMr6Cer16dwa64