Campus Officer Injured In Sword Attack, Suspect Shot & Killed

DENVER (CBS4)- A man is dead after a police officer on the Auraria campus was critically injured early Saturday morning when the man attacked him with a sword.

Police in Denver said the suspect was wielding what appeared to be a ninja-type sword on the downtown Denver campus near 9th and Walnut around 6 a.m. when the officer tried to intervene.

"The officer did arrive and at that time did confront the suspect. A confrontation did ensue between the officer and the suspect," Raquel Lopez with Denver police said.

One of the officer's fingers was almost severed in the attack. He was rushed to the hospital where surgery was performed to repair the injury to his hand. The officer shot and killed the suspect. His name has not been released.

"If somebody's coming attacking you with a knife or any type of object and they're not obeying your commands, you've got to do whatever you can to protect yourself," Lopez said.

The incident happened a few hours before a Veteran's Day 5K run was scheduled to start and some runners were shocked to find themselves in the middle of a crime scene.

"We thought they had taped it off for the race. We didn't hear about it until we were in line registering," runner Stacey Ginsberg said.

Police have not said whether he was a student at the college or why he was carrying a sword.