The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) in Colorado says “multiple deputies are down” and a code red alert has been issued amid an “active” situation south of Denver.
The situation is happening on or near County Line Road between Colorado Boulevard and University Boulevard, and Highway C-470 is closed as a result.
The DCSO says citizens should avoid the area, while residents should shelter in place and avoid windows and exterior walls.
UPDATE, we have multiple deputies down, no update on their status. The scene remains active and please avoid the area.
A Code Red was sent out regarding this incident. Any citizens in the affected area are instructed to shelter in place, avoid windows and stay away from exterior walls.
UPDATE:
The rifle-toting man who gunned down a Colorado deputy in a New Year’s Eve “ambush-style” attack had ranted about the sheriff and a local police officer in recent online posts discovered after the assault.
Matthew Riehl, 37, fired more than 100 rounds as he was holed up in a bedroom in his apartment in Highlands Ranch, before he too was found dead at the scene. The Douglas County Sheriff’s office identified Riehl as the gunman Sunday evening.
“They all went down, almost within seconds of each other,” Spurlock said.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says five deputies were shot at an apartment community in Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Fox 31 Denver)
He said the deceased deputy was 29-year-old Zackari Parrish. He had been a deputy for seven months.
Parrish is survived by his wife and two children and previously worked for two years at the Castle Rock Police Department.
He is seen wearing an Iraq combat veteran hat in a Dec. 13 YouTube video in which he called Spurlock a “clown” and a deputy a pimp.
“You know who’s going flub big time next election, Spurlock,” Riehl said in the video called “Fire Sheriff Spurlock.”
He said he was running against Spurlock as a libertarian.
A video posted on Nov. 28 showed a traffic stop by a police officer in the city of Lone Tree — apparently taken inside the officer’s car — that Riehl said was done illegally. He claimed the officer clocked the wrong driver, identifying the officer by name in the video and calling him “dirty.”
“S—bag, dirtbag, liar,” he says as the officer questioned the driver. “He’s the boss, huh? He’s the Nazi in charge with the stripes on his shoulder and the fake badge.”
The wounded officers: Deputies Mike Doyle, 28; Taylor Davis, 30; and Jeffrey Pelle, 32; and Castle Rock police officer Tom O’Donnell, 41, were said to be in stable condition. The civilians had suffered non-life threatening injuries, Spurlock said.
Pelle is the son of Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, Fox 31 Denver reported.
Authorities had been to Riehl’s home earlier in response to a complaint of a “verbal disturbance” involving two men, the sheriff’s office said. One of the men told them the suspect “was acting bizarre and might be having a mental breakdown” but the deputies found no evidence of a crime.
When deputies were called back, a man who had left came by to give them a key and granted permission to enter the home, leaving again before shots were fired.
“The suspect was just making a ton of noise and annoying everyone around him,” Spurlock said.
Four officers, including Parrish, were shot from a bedroom around 6 a.m., forcing the retreat. A SWAT team entered the apartment at about 7:30 a.m. in an exchange of gunfire that left the gunman dead and another officer injured.
Local media reported gunshots being heard amid a stream of firetrucks and emergency vehicles entering the area.
Steven Silknitter, who lives in the complex, told the Denver Post that he was working elsewhere when he got word of the shooting and called home to speak to his fiance.
“She was pretty scared,” Silknitter said. “She kept saying how loud it was.”
President Donald Trump tweeted that he has offered his “deepest condolences to the victims of the terrible shooting.”
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper also issued a statement saying “our thoughts and prayers” were with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the family and friends of Deputy Parrish.
“We can only…
