Sheriff's Office: Suspect Shot By Deputy Had Automatic Weapon
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Police are investigating a bizarre officer-involved shooting in Douglas County.
Around 6:45 p.m. Friday a Douglas County deputy on routine patrol spotted a white SUV pulled over on the side of County Line Road near Santa Fe Drive.
The deputy stopped to help what he thought was a stranded motorist, but soon feared for his life.
According to Deputy Steve Johnson with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, the person inside the SUV got out of the vehicle with an automatic weapon, specifically, an assault rifle.
An area resident knew something was not right when she saw the SUV a short time earlier just down the road.
"It looked like it was going to turn," said Diana Hokanson, who lives in the area. "And it just kind of sat there. And it looked very suspicious … I'm very disturbed. When you see red tape and yellow tape, you know something bad is going on, and to think that I was just there is pretty scary."
Authorities said that when the suspect got out of the vehicle with the weapon, the deputy immediately engaged him in verbal commands.
When the suspect did not obey commands, the deputy fired multiple shots, striking the suspect.
First responders rushed the suspect to the hospital. His condition was unknown.
Investigators were looking into what motivated the suspect to ambush an officer.
"We don't know if he has criminal charges pending, we don't know if the car is stolen. These will be the things that we'll have to go through in our investigation," said Johnson.
The involved deputy was not injured.
Authorities had not said what charges the suspect will face.
The 18th Judicial Critical Incident Team is investigating.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
