LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Louis McGlothlin and Keith Ford didn’t know each other, police said Monday as they try to piece together why McGlothlin drove from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Lafayette and shot three people in a laundromat, killing Ford.
As of Monday, police do not believe there was any connection between McGlothlin and his three victims.
Although police are still trying to determine when McGlothlin arrived in Lafayette, they know he parked outside the laundromat in the 3100 block of South Street about 7:40 p.m. Thursday and someone inside the business called 911 to report a man with a gun. A few seconds later, another 911 caller reported shots fired, according to police.
Lafayette detectives are trying to establish a timeline of McGlothlin’s travel from his home in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Lafayette, Lafayette police Sgt. Shawn Verma said Monday. They also are trying to determine where he got the handgun used in the attacks.
McGlothlin, 73, shot 35-year-old Ford, of Lafayette, multiple times while Ford was in the southwest corner of the laundromat, according to Monday’s preliminary autopsy findings and police answers Friday to J&C inquiries.
McGlothlin’s shots also wounded Salvador Antonio De La Cruz Reyes, 30, and Renee Martin, 32. Their wounds were not life-threatening.
Two other people inside the laundromat managed to avoid being wounded, police said, adding that no children were inside the building at the time of the killings.
Police are trying to determine how many shots McGlothlin fired, Verma said Monday.
After the shooting inside the building stopped, McGlothlin stepped into the parking lot. While standing beside his pickup truck, he shot himself in the head, according to police. He died about 5:10 a.m. Saturday at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, according to Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello.
Ford’s death was ruled a homicide from multiple gunshots, a forensic pathologist determined during Ford’s autopsy Monday, Costello said.
McGlothlin died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, according to Costello, who cited preliminary autopsy findings for both men. McGlothlin’s death was ruled a suicide.
The preliminary autopsy findings are pending toxicology results, which can take up to six weeks.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Police: Shooter had no connection to victims in Dec. 5 laundromat shooting
