Thornton shooting, arson being investigated as double homicide

Two days after the Thornton Police Department found two people dead inside of a house after a fire, the incident is being investigated as a double homicide. 

“On Feb. 28, continuing investigative efforts in this case have revealed information that confirms this case is a double homicide,” the police department said in a social media post on Friday.

Officers initially responded to a house fire in the 16300 block of Columbine Street — in the Orchard Farms neighborhood — around 11 p.m. Wednesday evening. Officers found a 58-year-old woman and a 55-year-old man dead inside the home with apparent gunshot wounds.

The fire was contained around 12 a.m. Thursday.

The victims are Kendra and Chad Anderson, according to a GoFundMe set out to garner funds for their two sons. The two are also listed as residents of the home through voter registration.

The GoFundMe has raised over $34,000 in 24 hours.

Preliminary investigations Thursday found that the fire was set intentionally, but additional details regarding the shooting were not available at the time, police said. Now, two days later, the incident has been considered a double homicide.

The department did not release any other information regarding the investigation and said they are still working to gather suspect information.

Neighbors told The Denver Gazette Saturday that the police investigated the house for hours after the fire, but did not not issue a shelter-in-place order for the area.

Some theorize that meant the shooting was targeted, but it’s still an unsettling situation for those nearby.

“This doesn’t happen out here,” Doug Linton, who lives a few houses down, said. 

“It was nerve-wracking for a little while, but it seems like these things happen so often,” he said. “You hear it happen all of the time, but not here. But, we’re not immune to it, unfortunately.”

Linton said that while he didn’t know the victims, they were always out walking their dogs in the area. 

Karen Wiley, a resident of the neighborhood for four years who was out taking a walk, said she mourns for the family, but she isn’t worried about her safety in the area.

“It happens all over the place. People are kind of nervous now, but I’m not too worried about it,” she said. “You wouldn’t think in this kind of neighborhood that there would be incidents, but there have been a few.”

For example, two Thornton police officers were shot and a suspect were shot and killed in a standoff on the other side of the Orchard Farms neighborhood around 9 a.m. on Oct. 9.

“It’s just a little surreal,” Aaron Lundblade, a resident of the neighborhood since 2019, said while standing in a luscious green park in the center of newer, large homes on Oct.9. “[The neighborhood] is relaxed. There’s not a lot of craziness going on here. Every year we do our holidays right here in this park… I could definitely see how this could shake some people up.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Thornton Police Department at 720-977-5069.

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