Four Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office deputies are okay after being fired upon while responding to a welfare check in the 6300 block of S. Olive Street, in Centennial.
Deputies were sent to the home just before 10:30 a.m. when a woman called reporting concern for a friend. She had been on the phone with the friend when the friend’s spouse hung up the phone. She had been unable to make contact with them after that.
While deputies were attempting to make contact with someone at the residence, the suspect fired a round as he backed out of the garage in a vehicle. Deputies returned fire, striking the suspect. Deputies immediately pulled him from the vehicle and rendered aid. The vehicle continued rolling into the driveway of another home, coming to rest against the garage door. The suspect was transported to an area hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.
There were community members outside in the area at the time, but neither they nor deputies were struck when the suspect fired. The initial investigation has shown that the suspect’s wife had left the area prior to deputies arriving at the home.
Investigators with the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office will be piecing together the details of the original call and our response. The 18th Judicial District Critical Response Team (CRT) has been activated to investigate the details of the officer-involved shooting portion of this case. Information about the Critical Response Team can be found on our website at http://www.arapahoegov.com/1563/Critical-Response-Protocol.
Until the CRT completes its investigation, there is no information available regarding the number of shots fired by the suspect or deputies. The names of the deputies involved are not being released at this time. All have been with the agency for more than 10 years, and two for more than 20 years.
There is a significant amount of investigation left to do. No additional information is expected to be released by the Sheriff’s Office until the investigation has concluded. The name of the suspect will be released by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office after appropriate notifications have been.
See PDF of release.