The fatal victims of the Illinois bowling alley massacre were identified as three beloved community members on Monday – as authorities revealed chilling new details about the random massacre.
A group of four teenagers were waiting for food at Shooters Bar, part of the Don Carter Lanes bowling complex in Rockford, when Green Beret suddenly “started shooting Duke Webb at their table,” state attorney J. Hanley told reporters.
The killer punched a 14-year-old boy in the face and a 16-year-old girl in the shoulder, he said. Both are recovering from their wounds.
As patrons began to flee in panic, Webb, armed with two Glock pistols, turned his gaze to 65-year-old Thomas Furseth, the official said.
The heavily decorated Army special operations sergeant, 37, shot Furseth in the torso as the older man ran up the stairs, fatally collapsing the victim at the top, Hanley said.
“I just learned from my sister that my brother Thomas Furseth was killed in the shooting of Don Carter Lanes in Rockford, Illinois,” Linda Furseth wrote on Facebook a little after noon on Monday.
Webb – who is from Florida and was able to visit family – then walked up to the second floor, where there were about 20 to 25 people, Hanley said.
There he shot dead 73-year-old Dennis Steinhoff, who sometimes led local basketball games, according to the prosecutor and friends.
“We were regular referee partners for 22 years,” devastated friend Steve Franck wrote on Facebook.
Also fatally wounded on the second floor was local bowling legend Jerome Woodfork, 69, who was shot in the neck – before falling over the balcony in the parking lot below.
“He was one [bowling] Hall of Famer in Rockford, ” friend Jason Heiden told a local Woodfork CBS-TV affiliate.
“I don’t know how many 300 games that guy has. I will never forget that guy’s smile. “
Pal Bob Crosty posted a photo of the victim posing with a bowling ball on Rockford West High School’s Facebook page, writing, “RIP JEROME WOODFORK. Class of 1969. Very classy guy and great friend to everyone. ”
Another 62-year-old man is still in critical condition after being shot in the left eye, back, neck, groin and buttocks, Hanley said.
Webb’s lawyer suggested in court on Monday that her client is suffering from PTSD.
The military said Webb had served 12 years of “honorable service,” including four deployments in Afghanistan and a slew of medals, such as the Bronze Star.
Webb returned from his last deployment in July and was on leave at the time of the shooting, the military said without digging.
The two weapons he used – .40 caliber and .380 caliber Glocks – were not issued by the military, Hanley said.
Webb confessed his heinous crime to the police and showed them where he kept his weapons after the massacre, the prosecution added.