Suspect killed, deputy critically injured south of Denver
PARKER, Colo. – A suspect was killed and a Colorado sheriff’s deputy was critically injured in a shooting south of Denver, authorities said.
Officials said police and deputies were responding to a report of a suicidal person in the town of Parker Friday when the suspect fired on them, wounding the deputy.
Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said the suspect fled and was later killed in a gunfight with officers at another location.
Spurlock identified the injured deputy as Det. Dan Brite. Brite was undergoing surgery Friday afternoon.
Spurlock says the Brite is married to another Douglas County deputy, Sgt. Christine Brite.
Authorities haven’t released the name of the suspect or the officer who killed the suspect, but Spurlock said he was known to officers.
A witness told CBS4’s LaurenDiSpirito that a man with a gun crashed his RV and fired at him and other people.
Another woman told CBS4 that she heard four gunshots while trying to pick up her granddaughter from school.
The officer who shot and killed the suspect was dressed in plain clothes instead of a uniform.
“It may have appeared that there were civilians out there but they were detectives in plain clothes and it was a police officer that engaged him,” said Spurlock.
The situation started about an hour earlier at a home located north of Sierra Middle School.
Investigators said there was a man inside that home who was suicidal and SWAT crews gathered outside to try to coax him out. Officers were initially called to the home for a domestic situation.
Spurlock said that no one in the home was injured.
Sierra Middle School was placed on lockout along with eight other schools in the Douglas County School district. No students were hurt. The lockout for all schools was lifted just before 4 p.m.
“When I first came out, I saw all the SWAT with all the guns and thought, ‘Oh, man… this is a big deal,’” said student Naiah Ackerman.