Officers From 2 Different Agencies Fired Shots In CU Campus Fatality
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - A man carrying a machete is dead after being shot by police Wednesday morning on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder.
It was the start of a chaotic day at the university. The man was shot and killed by police at the new Champions Center on the northwest side of campus near Folsom Field.
Later in the day, there was another scare at the University Memorial Center on the other side of campus. There was no link between the two incidents.
The first call into 911 was made at approximately 9:15 a.m. when a patient was headed into the Champions Center and encountered a man with a machete who started verbally assaulting someone. The man then followed the patient inside the building.
Other workers saw the man, who had what's being described as a large machete.
Campus police sent a text to students and staff warning them about the situation and asking that they avoid the area.
"I work at the Norlin Library, so we were just like 'That's so weird. What's going on on campus?'" said Lauren Wahl, a senior.
Multiple officers from the campus police force and Boulder police responded. One officer from each agency fired at the man when he allegedly wouldn't obey the command to drop the weapon.
"Given the weapon that the suspect was armed with, given the statements already made to our initial victim, and given the nature of how he was maneuvering through the Champions Center we believe that it was in the best interests of the university that it was a deadly force situation," said University of Colorado Police Chief Melissa Zak.
Zak said the man was not known police.
"We are still working on properly identifying him," she said.
On Thursday afternoon 911 was called again for a man with a gun at a Starbucks. Officials didn't know if that was a coffee shop on the University Hill or the nearby University Memorial Center so that building was put into an active shooter situation and many people left the building.
No threats were found there.
