PLATTEVILLE — UW–Platteville released its police report Monday on the May 19 shooting in which two Wilgus Hall students died by gunfire.

Kelsie Martin, 22, Beloit, died at UW Hospital in Madison about two hours after she was taken by medical helicopter from Southwest Health.

Hallie Helms, 22, Baraboo, was found dead of a gunshot wound at the shooting scene outside a Wilgus Hall dorm room.

The 538-page report, which covers almost three months of investigation from the incident, was released four days after an email from Chancellor Tammy Evetovich that said that “Out of respect for the families and friends of these two students, we are choosing to share information in a respectful and limited way.”

The email confirmed that Martin died of a gunshot wound and Helms died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in what was described as “an isolated incident.”

Helms died of a gunshot wound to her head, according to a UW Health autopsy report.

“We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones affected and respect their privacy during this difficult time,” said Evetovich in an email to The Platteville Journal that accompanied the police report. “The investigation has concluded, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to our students, faculty, and staff. We will continue to do what UW–Platteville does best — care deeply for one another and our community.”

The report is heavily redacted, identifying by name only UWP personnel and law enforcement who were part of the incident and its investigation. A letter sent to The Journal said redactions include “non-directory personally identifiable information” of Martin, Helms and students under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as well as “certain personally identifiable information” of non-student witnesses and UWP employees under state law.

According to the report, UWP police officer Molly Thelemann responded at 3:43 p.m. to a call on UWP’s police nonemergency phone line reporting a disturbance in Wilgus Hall, 1100 Greenwood Ave. The caller, who called police after failing to find anyone with UWP Residence Life, reported hearing yelling, things slamming around, and the words “I’ll kill you” and the use of a gay slur.

A search warrant on Martin’s cellphone found that Martin, a Residence Life staffer, received a text message at the same time asking if she was in Wilgus Hall and reporting a woman “screaming her head off on [the] first floor, like bad.” Martin then received a video one minute later with sound of the yelling, to which she responded “I’ll check.”

The report said that Martin and other Residence Life staff previously were asked to conduct a “general check” of Helms since she had not been attending class.

The caller later told UWP police of hearing a slammed door and “a lot of screaming and yelling” that sounded as if “someone was going through an emotional charged moment” from just before 3 p.m. to when the caller contacted police. The caller then reported that Martin knocked on the caller’s door. The caller reported seeing Helms raise a gun toward Martin and heard a “loud bang.” The caller then shut and locked the dorm room door.

Thelemann went into Wilgus Hall and as she crossed the stairwell to a first-floor door heard yelling and then one gunshot. Thelemann saw a woman, later identified as Helms, lying on her back with a black gun, later identified as a Smith & Wesson Equalizer 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, between her legs and a second woman in the northeast corner of the hallway with her torso facing the wall.

Thelemann and Platteville Police Sgt. Matt Froiseth and Officer Ethan Glendenning attempted life-saving measures before Southwest Health EMS arrived.

Thelemann saw an open pistol case in an open room on the first floor of Wilgus Hall after EMTs arrived.

Grant and Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s deputies, Platteville, Cuba City, East Dubuque and Lancaster police and Grant County Emergency Management assisted UWP police in clearing out residents from Wilgus Hall to Brockert Hall the night of the shooting. First-floor Wilgus residents were taken out of their rooms through their room windows. 

The state Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and Crime Lab Division were called to assist in the investigation.

A search of the hallway found two bullet casings, a bullet fragment, and a mark where a bullet had struck a concrete block wall. A search of the nearest room on Wilgus Hall’s first floor found that a bullet went through a window blind and dented a window frame, with a fragment found on the floor.

The next day, May 20, a UWP police officer impounded a car, later identified as belonging to Helms, on Greenwood Avenue and searched it. A UWP police sergeant reported finding a notebook “referencing obtaining a gun, suicide, and possibly killing others” mixed with class notes.

A student identified as Helms’ former roommate told police that Helms would ask her “random odd questions” that included “if you were to kill somebody how would you do it?”

The former roommate said Helms played video games “a lot” and would only eat food in her room. She said she saw no “indicators of being violent or anger except for yelling at the games while playing them.”

An affidavit in support of a search warrant reports that Helms was living alone in Wilgus at the time of the incident.

The report includes an interview with UW–Platteville School of Education director Dr. Tim Buttles, who said Helms was disappointed that a School of Education faculty member and Helms’ student teaching advisor did not recommend her for certification and licensing as a teacher due to poor performance in a student teaching practicum in the Platteville School District in 2024. Helms was reported to be defensive but not emotional when told about the non-recommendation.

An email about a later meeting with Helms in December reported that Helms was agreeable to pursuing anon-teaching bachelor’s degree in the School of Education.

The report quoted another School of Education faculty member as saying she had both Martin and Helms in different classes but as far as she knew they did not cross paths. 

An affidavit for a search warrant said the relationship between Martin and Helms was “unknown” other than Martin being a resident director in Wilgus Hall, where both lived.

The faculty member described Helms as “very quiet” and she “seemed unique when compared to her peers’ and missed about two weeks of class near the end of the semester. Martin was described as “talkative and engaging, came to every class and she was easy to talk with about many subjects.”

A search warrant of Helms’ laptop and Google account found searches for concealed-carry weapon training and permits, handguns, ammunition and accessories, as well as THC products. The search warrant also found searches for how to write a suicide note, a last will and testament, legal advice for changing a will before committing suicide, a Wilgus Hall room map, and a search for an incident in which someone committed suicide during a Facebook Live stream.

UWP Police Detective Bradley Wells is quoted in the report as saying a search of Helms’ phone did not find searches for school shootings, mass shootings or revenge or “any other indicator” that Helms “ever looked for information regarding hurting others or using weapons against anyone.”

The toxicology report from Helms’ autopsy at UW Hospital in Madison reported positive tests for THC in her blood.

The report notes that UWP policy prohibits students from having firearms in residence halls.

“I am proud of the way our university responded to the events of last spring,” said Evetovich in her Thursday email. “Over the summer, we began assessing that response, our policies, and our safety protocols. We will be continuing this work into the fall because we want to include the perspectives of our students, faculty, and staff. …

“This has been an incredibly difficult time for all of us. As we move forward together, I am confident you will continue to support each other in meaningful and caring ways.” 

Evetovich said UWP staff will hold open office hours throughout the year to “provide you an opportunity to ask questions or provide feedback on not only this topic, but on any new initiatives or changes.”

UW–Platteville first canceled exams scheduled for the day of the shooting and the next day, then decided later to cancel all exams that hadn’t taken place at its main and Baraboo–Sauk County campuses.

Provost and vice chancellor Laura Reynolds said finals were canceled because “we are a close-knit community. Both the faculty and staff as well as the students need time to be together, need time to work through this together. We are deeply saddened and know this event has negative impact on our Pioneers, and we know students will want to be able to focus on their own well-being and spend time with friends and their families.”

Martin was a 2021 Beloit Turner graduate who was an honor roll student every year in high school, according to the Beloit Daily News. She received both the UW – Platteville Lulu Howery Scholarship and UW–Platteville Merit Scholarship.

Martin graduated summa cum laude from UWP May 17 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in human services. She was assistant resident director of Wilgus Hall. 

Martin said in a UW–Platteville Residence Life Facebook post in September that she “wanted to help people the same way my RA helped me through my first year on campus.”

Martin’s obituary said she planned to pursue a master’s degree in psychology at UW–Whitewater this fall.

Helms graduated magna cum laude from UWP ?May 17 with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, according to UWP’s spring commencement program. She was a resident of Wilgus Hall. She transferred to UWP in 2023 after her first two years at UW–Platteville’s Baraboo/Sauk County campus.

Christina Lorey of Up North News reported that Helms said on her website that “I want to be the teacher who had helped, counseled, and inspired change. I want to change students for the better.”