Utah Guardsman kills 2, shoots self

LOGAN, Utah — A 23-year-old member of the Utah Army National Guard killed a Utah State University student and one other person before fatally shooting himself in Logan, police said Monday.

Jared Tolman apparently kicked down the door of a Logan apartment two blocks from campus on Monday at about midnight. He fired multiple times on a 25-year-old man and a 19-year-old sociology major, both people he knew, said Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen.

Officers responding to 911 calls found Mackenzie Madden and Johnathon Jacob Sadler dead inside the unit.

The gunman had exchanged text messages with Madden shortly before the shootings, police told the Salt Lake Tribune. They gave no further details on the messages.

Authorities believe the shooter fled from the building to another home a few miles away in west Logan. They received a 911 call a little before 1 a.m. reporting gunshots there.

Tolman did not live at that address, Jensen said, but had friends there. Two other people who were in the apartment at the time called 911.

Logan police said the same gun was used in all three shootings. They did not confirm whether Tolman owned the gun, but said it was not a government-issued weapon.

Tolman joined the National Guard in 2009, said Guard spokesman Stephen Fairbourn. He was assigned to a support battalion for the 19th Special Forces Unit, where his chief duty was handling laundry. Tolman had no history of disciplinary issues, Fairbourn said.

Madden, a sociology and psychology student, interned with Logan police in fall 2013, where she compiled research on active shooter situations, said Logan police Lt. Brad Franke.

“She wanted to save the world. I’m personally just shocked and saddened by this terrible loss,” he said. “She was a great kid.”