DPD Shootout A Culmination Of Violent Pursuit

By Brian Maass

DENVER (CBS4) - Denver police used flash-bang grenades, a police K-9 and attempted to subdue a fleeing suspect Wednesday afternoon by ramming his car before the incident turned into a shootout that left one Denver police technician wounded and the suspect dead.

According to police sources familiar with what happened, the wanted suspect had been visiting his father at an assisted living center at 26th Avenue and Osceola Street when he left the facility with a man believed to be his father and an unidentified woman.

Police tried to close in but the man -- wearing a sheriff's department uniform shirt and a holster -- fled. At some point the other man and the woman in the car bailed out and were taken into custody by police. But the pursuit of the suspect continued unabated.

Police tried to employ flash-bang grenades and other less lethal means that were not successful.

It ended when the suspect ran his vehicle into a gas line triggering a small but intense fire. According to sources familiar with what happened next, Denver Police SWAT officers deployed at least one K-9 to subdue the suspect, who brandished a gun and fired at least one shot. That shot hit a 15-year veteran of the Denver Police Department in the upper leg. He was transported to Denver Health Medical Center and is expected to recover.

Officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect and at least one shot hit the man in the head. It's unclear where the suspect obtained his sheriff's shirt.

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.