Man arrested after hammer attack at Northern Colorado tanning salon, facing attempted murder charges

A Northern Colorado man is facing multiple charges after police say he attacked two people inside a Loveland tanning salon.

The Loveland Police Department was called to Endless Summer Tanning on 1518 Madison Avenue just before 7 p.m. Tuesday. Police said 20-year-old Kyle Matthew Behrens walked into the business and attacked the 21-year-old employee with a hammer, striking her repeatedly in the head and causing serious injuries. As Behrens reportedly went to barricade the front entry, the employee escaped to a nearby room occupied by a customer.

The employee and customer managed to secure the door, and the customer called 911, but authorities say Behrens then used the hammer to break through and pulled out a knife, attacking them both. Officers arrived at the scene in the middle of this and arrested him.

"In less than three minutes, we were on scene, entered into the business where we encountered Behrens, who was actively trying to gain access to the two victims, continuously and violently trying to harm them," said Loveland Police Department Public Information Officer Chris Padgett.

Both the employee and customer were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries, and officials say they are recovering. LPD said that Behrens also received medical attention before he was booked into the Larimer County Jail.

"The one thing that I truly want to express thanks for is these two victims who fought for their lives. I cannot give enough credit to them for having a mind of survival," said Padgett. "The two of them worked to not only disarm the suspect, but then to fight for their lives still, while initiating a call to 911. They are alive today because of their will to survive."

Padgett also gave credit to the dispatch operators, "When this call came in... they immediately began dispatching the information in a detailed manner where our officers knew exactly what was happening and where it was happening and what they needed to do."

He's facing multiple charges in connection with the attack, including two counts of attempted first-degree homicide, first-degree assault with a weapon, attempted first-degree assault with a weapon, first-degree burglary with a deadly weapon and second-degree assault.

Authorities said that Behrens is currently known to be transient and was formerly living in the Longmont area. Padgett said law enforcement had a previous encounter with the suspect. The suspect does not appear to have any relationship with the victims, according to investigators. 

"We believe this was a random attack," said Padgett. "Why he picked this salon to walk in? They were about 15 minutes from closing time, as I understand it, so him going in and committing this heinous act, we're not sure exactly what the reason behind this is." 

Investigators said there was serious damage to the facility in addition to injuries to the victims.

At least one of the victims remained in the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, according to police.