Suspect held without bond following fatal Vail bar shooting

VAIL - The 63-year-old man accused of killing one person and wounding three others in a Vail bar on Saturday night appeared in court on Monday morning, but is not facing any charges, yet.

Richard Moreau walked into the Vail courtroom in orange jail coveralls for a very brief appearance, where no charges were filed. Instead, the presiding judge heard concerns from Moureau's attorney about the defendant's medication and then ordered him held without bond until his next court appearance on December 1st at 3 p.m.

The prosecution says they are planning to charge Moreau with first-degree murder, but asked for more time to gather evidence.

Vail Police say 70-year-old Gary Bruce Kitching of Carbondale was killed when the shooting erupted at the Sandbar Sports Grill, located at 2161 N. Frontage Rd., just before 7:30 p.m. in West Vail. The popular bar can hold more than 200 people when at capacity, but according to a report in USA Today, there were about a dozen people there when a man began acting "irate."

According to witnesses, the shooter pulled out the gun and opened fire after being escorted out the front door.
Police say they arrested Moreau inside the bar within 30 minutes of the shooting and he was taken to the Eagle County Jail. It was the first murder in this small ski resort town since the 1980s.

"While it is a rare occurrence to have an incident like this happen in our community, we want to express the tremendous amount of sadness and grief for what has occurred," Vail Police Chief Dwight Henninger said in a news conference Sunday morning. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those involved."
Henninger says Moreau used a semi-automatic .45 caliber handgun in the shooting. Police say he acted alone.

According a long time friend of Moreau's that agreed to speak to 9NEWS on the condition of anonymity, the 63-year-old was on medication for post-traumatic stress disorder, which he endured after two tours of duty in Vietnam during the late 1960s.

She says that he also had problems with anger management, but was seeing a therapist for both issues. The friend said that Moreau was a good-hearted man and she was stunned by the allegations.

According to our partners at the Denver Post, Moreau moved to Vail in 1970 and was one of the original members of the extreme skiing club the Ravinos and went by the nickname "Rossi." The moniker was taken from the popular Rossignol ski brand.

Police say a 29-year-old from Vail was being treated at Vail Valley Medical Center after being shot in the arm.

A second man, a 63-year-old from Vail, was airlifted from Vail Valley Medical Center and flown to Denver Health Medical Center on Saturday night for additional treatment, according to police.

Authorities say a third victim, a 25-year-old man from Vail, was treated at Vail Valley Medical Center and released with injuries to his leg.

A witness, who was in a restaurant next to the Sandbar says a fight broke out in the bar around 7:30 p.m. and that's when a bar regular pulled out a gun and began shooting.

The witness says people ran from the bar, heading to the restaurant. Others who were injured also ran into the nearby Holiday Inn parking lot.

Bar patron Nancy Lewis says she saw a man being escorted out of the bar and speaking incoherently. She says he then pulled out a gun and shot someone in the arm.

Other witnesses told the Vail Daily newspaper that the man fired several shots, then re-entered the bar and fired several more shots.

Several nearby businesses remained closed Sunday morning.
Vail Police ask anyone else with information regarding the shooting to call them at (970) 479-2210.