Spc. Braden Peltier, a 23-year-old soldier assigned to Fort Carson, Colo., died March 26, 2023, after he was found in Colorado Springs with a gunshot wound. His son Caycee was born in September 2020, about two months before Peltier enlisted in the Army. (Photo provided by Colorado Springs Police Department)
A Fort Carson soldier’s death is being investigated as a homicide after the 23-year-old was found with gunshots wounds along a street in Colorado Springs, Colo., according to local police.
Police responded to several 911 calls about the sound of gunshots at about 3:44 a.m. Sunday in the 2700 block of Palmer Park Blvd., according to a news release from the Colorado Springs Police Department. When police arrived at the scene, they found Spc. Braden Peltier, an artillery soldier from Bay City, Mich., and another person with gunshot wounds. Both were transported to local hospitals, and Peltier later died from his injuries.
The El Paso County Coroner’s Office completed an autopsy, but police said the cause of death has not been determined.
The shooting occurred in the eastern part of town about 10 miles from Fort Carson.
Misty Coon, Peltier’s mother-in-law, said the family is shocked by the loss of Peltier, who had returned in December from a deployment to Poland.
“We all miss this boy so much. It was a huge shock to the system that that even happened,” she said.
Spc. Braden Peltier, a 23-year-old soldier assigned to Fort Carson, Colo., died March 26, 2023, after he was found in Colorado Springs with a gunshot wound. He enlisted in the Army in November 2020 from Bay City, Mich. (Photo provided by Misty Coon)
Coon said she had known Peltier since he was a teenager, and he loved the outdoors and driving on trails with his pickup truck. The two shared coffee together nearly every morning he was home in Michigan.
Peltier had always wanted to join the Army, and after enlisting in November 2020, he came to her house in a black U.S. Army hat and T-shirt that he’d been given.
“He was so excited. He came right home and made sure I had a sign to put in my front yard and a coffee cup,” Coon said. “He was all decked out in his shirt and his hat I think for a couple of days.”
Earlier that year, he had married her daughter, Pagge Peltier, and the couple welcomed their son Caycee, now 2.
“Caycee would follow him right behind, everywhere he went,” Pagge Peltier said.
Coon created a Facebook page to seek justice in Peltier’s death and said the family is hopeful that someone will come forward with information.
“We want to know who did this. We want them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Nobody should get away with taking somebody else's life,” she said. “He was truly a great person and a hero to every one of us.”
Colorado Springs police said anyone with information or who is a witness to this investigation is asked to call the Colorado Springs Police Department at 719-444-7000. To remain anonymous, call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 719-634-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-8477.
