Suspect in Gymnast Kara Welsh’s Killing Identified as Former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Wrestler

A 23-year-old Loves Park, Illinois man was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater national title-winning gymnast Kara Welsh, 21, on Saturday, according to police.

Police wrote in a statement that on Friday, they responded to a report of an “individual who had suffered a gunshot wound,” adding “upon arrival, officers found a deceased 21-year-old female who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds.” Investigators “determined that leading up to the shooting, an altercation had occurred between the two” and “the male was detained.”

The man was identified as Chad T. Richards by Whitewater police in a Facebook post on Tuesday, a former wrester at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, reported 620WTMJ. Police said that they have “forwarded the following charges to the Walworth County District Attorney’s Office: first-degree intentional homicide, endangering safety by the use of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct while armed.”

Richards, according to police, will appear in court on Tuesday.

In a message to the campus, Chancellor Corey King wrote that “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.”

Corey added that the flag will fly at half-mast on Tuesday.

“To put into words the impact Kara had on the Warhawk community is impossible,” said Whitewater gymnastics coach Jennifer Regan in a statement released by the university. “A powerful athlete, dedicated teammate, and the light in everyone’s dark days, Kara truly lifted each and every one of us up in her time as a Warhawk gymnast. 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.”

Welsh won the national title in the vault contest at the NCAA Division III gymnastics championships in 2023.

Welsh’s family and friends set up a GoFundMe on Sunday following the news.

“Kara, 21 years old, was excited to be in her rising senior year as a gymnast at UW-Whitewater which was abruptly cut short on August 30th, by a heartless act of violence,” the GoFundMe read.