Friends, family mourn Coloradan killed in Wyoming murder-suicide

With mourners lining the pews of Calvary Chapel, a slide slow projected photos on the walls chronicling her life. One image was a letter from her parents, Julie and Steven Carlson, which said, "There is a gaping hole in our hearts." Amber Carlson was killed Sunday in an attack that left her assailant and one other person dead and a fourth person wounded. Investigators said 20-year-old Justin Geiger of South Beloit, Ill., killed Carlson with a high-powered rifle, stabbed Adam Towler, 20, of Laramie to death and stabbed and wounded Anthony Klochak, 19, of Chardon, Ohio. Geiger then took his own life with the rifle, police said. Klochak survived and has been cooperating with investigators, authorities said. Geiger, Carlson and Klochak were students at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Towler had attended Emory University and planned to transfer to Georgetown in the fall. Carlson's compassion for others would have made her an excellent nurse, friends said Friday. "Amber never forgot to love life," her friend Lisa Collins told mourners. "She never forgot to smile." The slide show began with pictures of Carlson as an infant and progressed through birthdays and holidays, showing her on Santa's lap, next to a jack-o'-lantern and finally in her high school graduation gown. The letter by her parents spoke of her mischievous nature, her shy smile and her compassion for all life, from people to her beloved pet dog Chelsea to insects.