Police: 4 dead, 1 hurt in shooting on Wisconsin bridge

MENASHA, Wis. — An argument with his ex-fiancee likely motivated a university student to randomly shoot four people, three fatally, on a bridge along a busy hiking and biking trail in a small eastern Wisconsin city, police said Monday. The gunman also shot and killed himself. Menasha Police Chief Tim Styka said the 27-year-old military veteran, Sergio Daniel Valencia del Toro, grabbed two handguns after the argument and rode his bicycle to the Fox Cities Trestle Trail bridge over Little Lake Butte des Morts on Sunday evening. He biked to a spot near a pavilion on the bridge and opened fire, striking his four victims at close range, Styka said. Jonathan Stoffel, 33, his daughter, Olivia Stoffel, 11, of Neenah, and Adam Bentdahl, 31, of Appleton, died at the scene. Stoffel’s 32-year-old wife, Erin Stoffel, was shot three times but survived, guiding her two other children, ages 5 and 7, from the bridge and sending the older one for help. “It’s the end of innocence in the Fox Valley,” Styka said at a news conference at Theda Clark Medical Center in nearby Neenah. “The times have kind of caught up with us.” Erin Stoffel was rushed into surgery at Theda Clark and remained in critical condition, according to the trauma surgeon who treated her, Dr. Ray Georgen. “We talk about the golden hour, this came down to minutes. And minutes made the difference between living and dying,” Georgen said. Styka said the Stoffel family had been out enjoying the nice weather on a bike ride when the gunman opened fire. “They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. There were about 75 people in the area when the shooting occurred, police said. Del Toro had served in the Air Force, had recently re-enlisted, this time in the Army, and was scheduled to report for basic training in June, Styka said. He had also trained with the Menasha Police Auxiliary, a group of unarmed volunteers. Del Toro was transported with a gunshot wound to the head and pronounced dead at the hospital. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh released a statement Monday saying he was enrolled at the school as a second-semester freshman. Menasha City Council President James Taylor said violence is uncommon in his community, about 100 miles north of Milwaukee. “Around the country every day it seems to happen somewhere or every other day. I never ever thought I’d be standing here talking about this and having such a situation like this happen in our community,” Taylor said.