Associated Press
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Gun evidence links a Colorado parolee fatally shot in Texas with the death of Colorado’s corrections’ chief, investigators said Monday.
The El Paso County sheriff’s office said that “unique and often microscopic markings” found on shell casings in Texas and Colorado leads investigators to conclude that the gun Evan Ebel used to shoot at authorities in Texas was the same gun used to kill Tom Clements at his home on Tuesday.
It had been known that the casings found at both scenes were of the same caliber and brand but Monday’s announcement was the first time Colorado investigators made a direct link between Ebel and Clements’ death.
What remained unknown though was why Clements was killed when he answered his front door Tuesday night and whether Ebel acted alone.
“There are no answers at this time surrounding motive and gaining these answers could be a lengthy process for investigators,” sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said in statement.
The announcement came just hours after hundreds of people, including corrections officials and guards from as far away as Morocco, gathered for a memorial service to honor Clements.
The crowd at New Life Church included 39 current and former corrections’ chiefs as well as guards from 14 states. A delegation of corrections officials from Morocco also attended along with dignitaries including Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Attorney John Walsh.
Hickenlooper and his widow both spoke about Clements’ strong belief in redemption. His family said he decided as a teenage to work in corrections after visiting his uncle in prison, and he worked to reduce the use of solitary confinement in Colorado prisons.
Standing with her two daughters, Lisa Clements said her husband of 28 years would want justice as well as forgiveness.
“We want everyone who hears Tom’s story to know that he lived his life believing in redemption, in the ability of the human heart to be changed. He would want justice certainly but moreover he’d want forgiveness. Our family prays for the family of the man who took Tom’s life and we will pray for forgiveness in our own hearts and our own peace,” said Lisa Clements, a psychologist who oversees Colorado’s state mental health institutes.
Hickenlooper, who hired Clements about two years ago, told mourners that Clements was both pragmatic and principled.
“He had common sense and he had courage,” Hickenlooper said.