Mystery as two young female students killed at University of Wisconsin dorm

Daily Mail​

20-05-2025

Two young women were killed at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in an 'isolated incident' just days after graduation.
Kelsie Martin, 22, and Hallie Helms, 22, died Monday at Wilgus Hall, a dormitory on campus.
Police have shared few details on the incident, but sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel a shooting allegedly occurred around 4 p.m.
Staff and students at the public university - where roughly 6,500 people study - were put on lockdown after police reported an 'emergency situation.'
The order was lifted just after 5 p.m. when police determined it was not an active, ongoing threat, reported WMTV.
'I have to point out that this is an ongoing, active law enforcement investigation, and I really don't have a lot of specific details at this time as it's still very fluid,' said UW-Platteville Police Chief Joe Hallman.
University Chancellor Dr. Tammy Evetovich released the victims' identities around 11 p.m., revealing they died in a 'targeted and isolated event,' according to WPR.
'It is with deep sadness that we mourn the loss of two UW-Platteville students, Kelsie Martin, 22, of Beloit, Wisconsin, and Hallie Helms, 22, of Baraboo, Wisconsin,' Evetovich said.
'This incident was a targeted and isolated event between the two individuals. Families of the students have been notified.'
A commencement program showed both women graduated on Saturday, Helms with a degree in elementary education and Martin with a degree in psychology.
According to a post from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville: Residence Life, Martin was the assistant resident director at Wilgus Hall.
She had worked for campus residence life for three years and said she applied for the role because 'I wanted to help people the same way my RA helped me through my first year on campus.'
Martin listed a fun fact about herself: 'I own over 400 books and want to have my own in-home library one day.'
The university canceled the remaining final exams and had counseling services available to students.
'We've canceled these final exams, and this extends to the Platteville and Baraboo campus because we are a close-knit community,' said Provost Laura Reynolds.
'Both the faculty and staff, as well as the students, need time to be together. They 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 families.'
Students told the local news station they were shocked to learn about the tragedy and frustrated with the lack of information from officials.
'I was kind of terrified for a second, honestly,' said Kirra Kamp, a sophomore. 'It's kind of something you hear happens but nothing that you actually think is gonna happen to you in your school until it happens. It's insane to see stuff like this happen.'
'It's kind of scary, honestly, because it's like obviously there are a lot of rumors going around,' said junior Andrew Roubinek.
'There are a lot of open-ended questions with a lot of things, and I came here to hopefully get some actual, don't want to say closure, but some actual news about it, which ended up being quite uneventful tonight.'