Grand County Sheriff Shoots Burglary Suspect, Places Self On Leave

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin was involved in a shooting Tuesday morning when a robbery suspect allegedly came at him with a knife.

Schroetlin and deputies responded to a call of a burglary in progress at the Snooty Coyote Liquors in Tabernash early Tuesday where they found a broken window. An officer from the Fraser Winter Park Police Department also assisted on the call.

During the investigation the suspect, a male identified as Connor James MacLaird, was found near the liquor store and a motel where residents can live long-term, the Firestone Inn located at 72160 U.S. Highway 40. When contacted by officers, MacLaird, 20, allegedly came at them with a knife. The man was shot by Schroetlin.

MacLaird was shot three times -- in the arm, leg and chest, according to CBS4's sources. He was flown to a Denver-area hospital for treatment and is listed in stable condition.

"The individual approached on the officers brandishing a knife," said Moffat County Sheriff KC Hume, who's acting as the Grand County spokesman. "Through the course of that encounter the individual was shot."

MacLaird has been living in the Tabernash area since Dec. 2014.

The Grand County Sheriff's Office has requested that the investigation be conducted by the 14th Judicial District's Critical Incident Team who is also coordinating with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

"Of the four individuals from the Grand County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Brett Schroetlin is one of those individuals," Hume said. "After this incident occurred, Sheriff Schroetlin placed himself and his three team members on paid administrative leave, placing his undersheriff, Wayne Schaffer as the acting sheriff in the interim."

CBS4 has learned before being elected sheriff in Grand County, Schroetlin was an officer with a small police department on the Eastern Plains. While there Schroetlin shot a man he pulled over for suspicion of DUI. The man told CBS4 he wasn't armed at the time. Schroetlin was never charged in that shooting.

Schroetlin is a Colorado native and has been with the Grand County Sheriff's Office since 2002.