THORNTON, Colo. — The man who killed his wife and then himself at the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Thornton on Christmas morning had threatened to shoot his wife and former co-workers about a year before the violence unfolded.
That new information comes from court filings obtained by 9NEWS.
Late Tuesday, the Adams County Coroner's Office identified the couple as 46-year-old Enoch Apodaca and his wife, 44-year-old Melissa Apodaca.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas, but the Sherrelwood congregation's regular Sunday meeting was set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
A few minutes after 9 a.m., Thornton Police responded to a call of a structure fire at the hall, 951 Milky Way. When officers arrived, they found that Enoch Apodaca had fatally shot Melissa Apodaca in the parking lot and then killed himself a short distance away.
A spokesman for Thornton Police said the two were married and were former members of the Kingdom Hall congregation.
The attack began when someone threw three "pipe-bomb-in-nature" devices through a window, according to police. It was not clear whether Enoch or Melissa threw the devices through the window. The Adams County Hazardous Materials Unit rendered the devices safe and then they were collected.
Court documents obtained by 9NEWS show that a former co-worker of Enoch Apodaca applied for a protection order against him in December 2021.
The person wrote that Enoch Apodaca was fired from the company in June 2021 but did not indicate why he was terminated.
The person wrote that a representative from the IBEW Local 68 spoke with Enoch Apodaca and during their conversation, Enoch said he would shoot his wife and the union representative.
According to the filing, Enoch Apodaca also said he would "come after" others at the company who he believed were responsible for his job loss.
A spokesman for the Adams County Sheriff's Office confirmed that their bomb squad went to the union hall at 5660 Logan St. to check for explosive devices on the day of the shooting at the Kingdom Hall. Later on Wednesday, Thornton Police said that Enoch Apodaca entered a business in the 5600 block of Logan Street around 8:45 a.m. on Sunday with what appeared to be a bucket. He walked back out soon after, and there was a large explosion.
The business was closed at the time and no one was injured, police said.
The bomb squad also went to Apodaca's home at a mobile home park on Zuni Street. It was unclear what, if anything, was found at those locations.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Investigations & Crime