Colorado State player, coworker held at gunpoint by man who thought they were 'antifa guys'
A Colorado State football player was involved in a frightening situation on Thursday.
According to 9News, a CSU player was held at gunpoint by a man who believed the CSU player and his coworker were “members of antifa.”
The man, 65-year-old Scott Gudmundsen, called police and said he saw two men wearing masks near his home. Gudmundsen told police they were “antifa guys” and that he was “armed and going to go confront them,” per 9News. When officers arrived, Gudmundsen, dressed in fatigues, was holding the two men on the ground at gunpoint. The incident occurred around 6 p.m. Thursday in Loveland, Colorado.
The two men, however, are workers for a local roofing company. Police said they were “canvassing the neighborhood” after recent hail storms in the area. Neither man was physically harmed, nor were they accused of any wrongdoing.
When officers arrived in the 2400 block of Dawn Court around 6 p.m. Thursday, they encountered Scott Gudmundsen — dressed in fatigues and holding two men on the ground at gunpoint, Shaffer said.
But the men weren’t troublemakers — they work for a local roofing company and were wearing blue polo shirts with the firm’s name on them, shorts, tennis shoes and white surgical-style masks, Shaffer said.
The Colorado State player is 20 years old and works part-time for the company. He has not been identified, but the university did acknowledge that he is a “man of color.” His coworker is 27.
Gudmundsen, who was found in possession of two weapons, was booked on two felony menacing charges and two counts of false imprisonment. Gudmunsen’s son issued an apology and told 9News his father is undergoing treatment at a mental health facility.
In a letter sent to students Friday night, CSU president Joyce McConnell, athletic director Joe Parker and football coach Steve Addazio said the student-athlete involved “is precious to us, contributing to our campus community in many ways: as an athlete, as a leader and as a thoughtful student.” The university said it is “working together to ensure the student has all the resources he needs, both now and in the months to come” after the “horrific experience.”
Colorado State football players returned to campus earlier this week to begin workouts.
From the letter:
Last night in the course of performing duties associated with his summer job in Loveland, a CSU football student-athlete was threatened with a gun, forced to the ground, and held there — along with his coworker — against his will. The perpetrator called the police to the scene; when they arrived, they quickly evaluated the situation and arrested the perpetrator.
Our student is a young man of color, while the perpetrator is white. Regardless of what investigators learn or reasons the perpetrator gives, we know this: Our student got up Thursday morning, worked out with his team, then showered, dressed, and went to work. Hours later, he was facing a stranger with a gun and hearing police sirens that had been inexplicably called on him. Given what we have seen happening in cities across this county, we know all too well that this encounter could have proceeded very differently.
In the letter, CSU officials said they have been in contact with the football player and his family and want to assure the student body that CSU is “avowedly anti-racist and anti-violence.”
“As a university and as a community, CSU is avowedly anti-racist and anti-violence,” the letter reads. “We are appalled at this expression of violence and hate visited upon one of our students. We condemn racism in all its forms and expressions and are working to build an equitable, anti-racist community that can be a model for others.”
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