National Title-Winning Gymnast Killed Near Campus: 'There Are No Words'
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A 21-year-old national champion gymnast who attends the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater was shot to death on Aug. 30.
A 23-year-old suspect, who police have not yet identified, was taken into custody, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
A police statement said the shooting took place in an off-campus apartment.
Police said prior to the shooting, there had been an argument between the suspect and victim.
According to WISN-TV, the apartment belonged to the suspect.
College gymnast Kara Welsh, 21, shot dead at Wisconsin apartment https://t.co/i14BkqYjhU
— News 19 (@whnt) September 3, 2024
“Our hearts are broken with the tragic loss of one of our own, UW-Whitewater Warhawk Gymnastics senior Kara Welsh,” the gymnastics team posted on Facebook.
Welsh, of Plainfield, Illinois, won the individual national title on vault at the NCAA Division III championships in 2023, the university said in a statement.
The senior had majored in management in the university’s College of Business and Economics.
“We know the news of Kara’s death is heartbreaking for our close-knit university community. It is a time when we are all called upon to support one another, to process, and to grieve,” UW-Whitewater Chancellor Corey King said.
Everything I see on the murder of Kara Welsh says this, but no one is naming the murderer, posting a mugshot, or anything else the media usually likes to do. This sure reads like the media protecting a domestic abuser. Maybe because he is also a student athlete
RIP Kara Welsh https://t.co/Ks62XKrqCb pic.twitter.com/v68RkMOFFL
— Neil C (@RealNeilC) September 3, 2024
“There are no words to describe the void we all feel in our hearts, but Kara’s legacy will live on through Warhawk gymnastics forever,” UW-Whitewater gymnastics coach Jen Regan said, according to WISN-TV.
“She was a great gymnast,” UWW sophomore Jonah Friede said, according to WITI-TV. “Everyone here is praying for her family.”
Nick Becker, Welsh’s coach for nine years at Aspire Gymnastics Academy, recalled Welsh as driven to put in the effort needed for success.
“She was a bulldog. Just right away – the hardest worker. Very respectful,” he said according to WISN-TV.
She was making the right choices, and she was doing the right stuff. It’s just hard to wrap my head around,” Becker said.
Becker said Welsh was a role model and mentor at Aspire Gymnastics.
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