2 University Students Found Dead From Gunshot Wounds Days After Graduation

Two University of Wisconsin-Platteville students were found dead from gunshot wounds in a campus residence hall on Monday, just days after the school’s commencement ceremony, university officials say.

The university police department revealed Tuesday that the students were Kelsie Martin of Beloit, Wisconsin, who died from a gunshot wound after being transported to a hospital, and Hallie Helms of Baraboo, Wisconsin, who died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, preliminary autopsies showed. Both women were 22.

“No other subjects are suspected to have been involved in the incident,” a university statement said Tuesday. “Further investigation continues around the circumstances surrounding the death of the two individuals.”

UW-Platteville Police Chief Joe Hallman said his department received a 911 call around 4 p.m. local time Monday about an incident at Wilgus Hall, a residential building on campus. Upon arrival, they determined it was an “isolated incident” that posed no “active, ongoing threat,” he said at a press conference.

Kelsie Martin (left) and Hallie Helms were found dead from gunshot wounds in a campus residence hall at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Monday.

UW Wisconsin-Platteville and Helms' social media account

Martin was the assistant resident director at Wilgus Hall, where Helms was a resident. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Martin had just graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology, and Helms had just graduated magna cum laude with an elementary education degree.

A Facebook post from the university last year praised Martin as a “growing leader and role model for young women on campus” who owned more than 400 books.

In an archived personal website uncovered by the Journal-Sentinel, Helms discussed her teaching aspirations.

“I want to be the teacher who had helped, counseled, and inspired change,” she wrote. “I want to change students for the better.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say suicide is one of the leading types of gun deaths in the U.S., accounting for more than 20,000 deaths a year. There were more than 600 murder-suicides in the U.S. last year.