Colorado shooter had Sisters roots

Authorities in Colorado Springs identified a man who embarked on a shooting spree, killing three people in that town on Saturday, as Noah Harpham. Harpham was killed by police.

Harpham, 32, was a 2000 graduate of Sisters High School. He played in a Christian band called Not All Related, which was profiled in a 2002 story in The Nugget (link to story).

CBS News reported that, "Witnesses said the gunman first took aim at a young man riding a bicycle, shot him several times and left him face-down on the sidewalk. Police found him with his backpack still on.

"The shooter then roamed the streets with a AR-15 rifle in one hand and a revolver in the other. About a half-mile away, he turned suddenly, shooting two residents on the porch of a home for women in recovery. He then continued down the block as police closed in, shooting out the window of a squad car before officers fired back..."

News reports indicate that Harpham had significant, ongoing struggles with substance abuse.

Harpham's brother and father issued a statement: "Our family is shocked and deeply saddened by the devastating events that took place in Colorado Springs on Saturday morning. Words cannot express our heartfelt sympathies that go out to the families and friends of the victims. We ask for privacy as our family tries to deal with this tragedy."

Harpham was active in music from high school. As part of Not All Related, he recorded a song that was featured on the first CD of The Americana Project in Sisters schools.

"They had kind of a hit," said Americana Project co-founder Brad Tisdel. "It was the first song off the first Americana Project album and it was the hit of the album."

The band performed "The Storm" at the Christian Artists Talent Search semi-final round on August 17, 2002. The event was held at a church in Los Angeles.

High school counselor Charlie Kanzig, who remembered Harpham well, was deeply saddened to hear of the "horrible thing" the former Sisters student had done in Colorado.

"The picture I saw of him in the yearbook, he had a guitar in his hand," he told The Nugget on Monday. "That's how I remember him."