Police have “suspects in mind” and have narrowed their search for the people they believe responsible for the death of 24-year-old middle school teacher, Colin Byars.

Sgt. Hugh Rafferty from the Kenosha Police Department, said detectives believe three black males in their late teens to early 20s are responsible, but nobody is yet in custody.

“We want to establish sufficient grounds to recommend charges,” he said. “At any moment we might get a breakthrough, and we’re optimistic, but we’re not going to put a timeline on it. We are being methodical, taking our time and making sure everything is done right. We owe that much to Colin Byars and his family.”

Byars, a special education teacher and wrestling coach at McKinley Middle School, died early Saturday morning after he was attacked by at least three people outside Big Shotz bar, on the corner of 30th Avenue and Roosevelt Road.

According to reports, Byars left the bar with a group of friends and apparently stood up to the individuals who accosted females in his group. He was punched and suffered a fatal injury after he was knocked down and struck his head on a curb.

Rafferty said detectives have spoken with at least one witness from Byars’ group and followed up on numerous leads people have called in.

He said it’s believed the three are affiliated with a gang, but declined to say if detectives have had any specific talks with them.

At McKinley Middle School and across Kenosha, friends continued to both mourn and celebrate Byars’ life.

This afternoon, the McKinley wrestling squad that Byars helped coach is heading to Red Robin to “have fun and not think about the incident that happened,” head coach Jose Torres said. He said Red Robin agreed to sponsor the gathering for the team and will pay their expenses.

Torres said it has been a trying week for the team. On Monday, the wrestlers wore their T-shirts to school in honor of Byars and then spent their after-school practice time reflecting on Byars. Torres invited his pastor to pray with the team and Byars’ parents also were present.

“We took it upon ourselves to make it a day of celebrating Colin’s life,” Torres said. “We discussed the impact that Colin had and all the lives that he touched.”

At the end of their practice time, each of the wrestlers lined up to give Byars’ parents a hug, The team also huddled and joined in a chant of “1-2-3-Colin.”

“It was so loud,” Torres said. “They meant it to be loud so it would go through the walls and the ceilings for Colin to hear it.”

As the team’s practices have continued this week, Torres said the wrestlers are doing things such as running extra laps and accepting stronger leadership roles, because that’s what Byars would have wanted.

“Every one of them took it upon themselves to become a little leader,” Torres said.“That’s exactly how Colin was. He was a great person, he worked with these kids. He was generous, he was kind-hearted, he was patient and he was never angry with the kids and the kids respected him for that.”

Torres said the team plans to have a dedication ceremony for Byars prior to their home meet at 4:30 p.m. March 10 at McKinley Middle School.