Gilbert woman dies after being shot by 'unknown' person inside her apartment, police say
GILBERT, Ariz. - The Gilbert Police Department is investigating the death of a 19-year-old woman who called for help before being declared dead on June 4.
At around 2 a.m., a 911 call came in from the woman saying she had been shot by an unknown person inside her apartment near Santan Village Parkway and Ray Road.
Officers arrived to find 19-year-old Rachel Hansen who had been shot.
"Hansen was transported to the Chandler Regional Medical Center, where she was later pronounced as deceased. Our thoughts are with Hansen’s family and friends," the department tweeted.
Neighbors said they didn't hear anything going on at her apartment until they saw police arrive, then realized something had happened.
‘It makes no sense’
Cheyenne Walters was a friend of Hansen, as well as her eyelash technician. She says she saw Hansen at 9 a.m. for an appointment the day before her death.
She never imagined she’d be one of the last people to see her alive.
"I just don't even know what's going on with it. I see her and then not even 24 hours later this all happens, and it doesn't even seem real," Walters said.
She says Hansen was going through some personal problems but finally started to feel like her life was getting back on track.
"She had spoken to the people she subleased to out in Gilbert where she was unfortunately killed. She arranged to move back in. She got the last of her things moved in on Thursday and she told me that she finally started to feel like herself," Walters said.
Hansen was a young woman whose friends say loved animals, training horses, and loved the important people in her life.
"She doesn't get that opportunity anymore. She was such a sweet, sweet person, and such a sweet, sweet soul. So it makes no sense to me that her next-door neighbors heard nothing but cries for help. There was no gunshot that they heard," Walters says.
Friends across Arizona, especially in Hansen's beloved equestrian community, are mourning the loss.
"Rachel was the most selfless kind-hearted, sweet person," says her friend Hayden Smith. "I was just in shock, and I’m still in shock, and I’m not quite ready to accept the fact that she’s gone."
Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to call Gilbert PD's non-emergency line at 480-503-6500 or submit information here.
'It makes no sense’: Friend of Gilbert woman killed in her apartment tries to understand what happened
Officers arrived to find 19-year-old Rachel Hansen who had been shot in her apartment. Her friend says it makes no sense why this happened and that she had just saw her less than 24 hours before her death.