Colorado authorities have identified everyone shown in security footage released after a Halloween party shooting that killed a University of Colorado Boulder student, while prosecutors weigh whether to pursue additional charges.
Boulder Police Public Information Officer Dionne Waugh confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that “everyone in the photos and video we released” had been identified.
Omar Perez, 18, the primary suspect, faces murder and other charges in the death of Luca Hanlon, 19, after a confrontation turned deadly at an off-campus party in Boulder’s University Hill neighborhood on Oct. 31.
Following Perez’s arrest, detectives sought the public’s help identifying three other people captured in photographs and video from the night of the shooting. They included two men—one wearing an “Art the Clown” shirt and another in a red hoodie—as well as a female witness.
It remains unclear whether any of those individuals will face charges.
“The investigation is ongoing. When and if there are additional arrests or charges, I will send out a news release,” Waugh said.
Shannon Carbone, public information officer for the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, told Fox News Digital that prosecutors “successfully argued in court Tuesday to have Perez held without bond.”
Perez’s preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 10, 2027, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The Colorado Public Defender’s Office declined to comment. The university did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
What happened at the party
According to a Boulder police arrest affidavit, officers first went to a home near Marine Street at about 9:58 p.m. on Halloween after receiving a noise complaint. Police issued a nuisance-party citation, and hundreds of people left. About 90 minutes later, at 11:28 p.m., officers returned after receiving a report of gunfire.
Witnesses told investigators that Perez was among those who initially left but later returned to the home with six others. After they were asked to leave, Perez and the group allegedly became angry, sparking a struggle in the living room and on the front porch. One witness said Perez appeared to be wearing a SWAT costume and a “Purge” mask.
The affidavit states that a resident put Perez in a headlock, after which Perez allegedly pulled out a gun and began firing.
One witness told police he heard Perez say, “Oh, I could shoot this place up.”
Hanlon was shot in the neck, while another 19-year-old student was wounded in the leg. Hanlon died the next day at Boulder Community Health.
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“I do not have any other updates on the second victim because of privacy. If that changes I will send out a news release,” Waugh told Fox News Digital.
Perez’s sister recognized him
The arrest affidavit says Perez’s sister recognized her brother’s clothing in photographs released by Boulder police and contacted investigators.
She then reviewed the family’s “Life360” app, which showed Perez arriving at the residence around the time of the shooting and tracked his route afterward. Over the following hours, he allegedly traveled through Westminster, Arvada and Keenesburg before returning to Thornton.
“The defendant was arrested in Thornton. He is not a CU student and, contrary to some rumors, was not arrested on campus,” Carbone told Fox News Digital.
His sister told investigators that Perez had illegally purchased a 10mm Glock “on the street” several days before the shooting and had posted photographs of it on Instagram. She said he had acquired the gun after replacing a revolver he had “thrown in some bushes” following an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to his calf on Sept. 26.
The affidavit also said Perez and the people who accompanied him traveled in a newer red Audi sedan.
When Perez picked up his sister from work, she got into the Audi and saw a “black purge looking mask” on the floor. She also told police that three people were inside the vehicle with Perez.
Perez allegedly told his sister that he and the others had been beaten at a party earlier by “four guys and his friends,” according to the affidavit.
Along with murder with extreme indifference, Perez faces charges of first-degree assault and attempted first-degree murder, both involving extreme indifference.
“For first-degree murder, the only sentence allowed under law is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Additional charges will likely be filed,” Carbone said.
Remembering Luca Hanlon
CU Boulder identified Hanlon, who was from Pennsylvania, as a second-year media production student in the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information.
“It doesn’t feel real. He was my best friend. He was always there. If I needed a shoulder to cry, he was there, to celebrate the biggest wins in life. He was just like an all-around, stand-up, great, just model citizen,” Hanlon’s friend Jack Anderson told Denver’s ABC 7.
“I would say he was who I aspired to be in life. He was that person.”
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Boulder police at 303-441-3333 or submit a tip through the department’s Evidence Submission Portal.
