College Wrestler Accused of Shooting Female Gymnast in Fetal Position Claims Self Defense

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The college wrestler accused of fatally shooting gymnast Kara Welsh while she was in the fetal position on the floor of an apartment claims he did so in self-defense.

Breitbart News reported that 21-year-old Welsh was shot to death on August 30, 2024, near the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Twenty-three-year-old Chad T. Richards was arrested the following day in connection with the homicide.

Richards was a wrestler on the Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team in 2021-2022. The apartment in which the shooting occurred is his.

On September 7, 2024,  the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted that Richards told law enforcement that he and Welsh got into an argument and she grabbed his handgun from the nightstand. Richards says he then wrestled the gun away from her and “shot Welsh with the handgun because he feared for his life.”

Welsh was shot eight times and a criminal complaint against Richards indicates he allegedly fired “some of the shots while Welsh was in a fetal position.”

FOX News pointed out that Richards is being held on a $1 million bond.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com. 

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