A Chicago-area college student who was a gymnast at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater was shot and killed in an apartment late Friday night, Whitewater police said.
Kara Welsh, 21, of Plainfield, Illinois, was found with multiple gunshot wounds when police responded to an apartment at 11:54 p.m. in the 100 block of Whitewater Street, police said.
Police said late Saturday that a 23-year-old man had been taken into custody on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct while armed. An altercation occurred between Welsh and the unidentified suspect before the shooting, police revealed.
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Corey King announced Welsh’s death in a message to the campus community, writing that she was a management major in the College of Business and Economics and a standout member of the Warhawks’ gymnastics team.
“We know the news of Kara’s death is heartbreaking for our close-knit university community,” he said in part. “It is a time when we are all called upon to support each other, to process and to grieve.”
UW-Whitewater Warhawk Athletics posted about Welsh’s death on Facebook, saying, “Our hearts are broken with the tragic loss of one of our own, UW-Whitewater Warhawk Gymnastics senior Kara Welsh.”