Suspect In Shooting Of Popular Doctor Says He Didn't Know Victim Died
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - The family of a doctor shot to death trying to help a neighbor on Wednesday released a statement thanking the community for the outpouring of support just after the suspect spoke with CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger about the shooting.
On April 4 Dr. Ken Atkinson raced towards gunfire in a Centennial neighborhood to help two women. He was shot and killed. The two women were also shot but survived. What is still not clear is the motive in the shooting.
Kevin Lyons, 46, was placed under arrest in connection with the shooting. He called Sallinger from the Arapahoe County Jail and claims he is being railroaded -- not allowed to speak in court and was given attorneys he didn't request. He would not, however, go into detail about what happened April 4 in Centennial.
Sallinger: "Was this something you had planned?"
Lyons: "No, no it was not planned, no sir!"
He said it was at a church that he had a spiritual miracle in the basement where he attends a fellowship. He did not want to go into detail about what role it may have led to the shootings.
Sallinger: "Were you on any drugs or alcohol or anything?"
Lyons: "No, I've been pretty much sober since for a long time."
Lyons has been ordered to undergo a competency exam at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, but Lyons insisted to CBS4 he is both competent and sane. Surprisingly, he claimed that he didn't know the results of the shooting that day.
"I haven't been informed of who was injured and who wasn't injured and what the details are," Lyons said.
He lived in a quiet Centennial neighborhood. His wife and a neighbor were shot and injured, but Atkinson, a popular physician in the area, was mortally wounded while coming to the aid of the victims.
Sallinger: "You know Dr. Atkinson died?"
Lyons: "That's a shame."
The community would like to know more about why it has happened. Lyons holds the key to that and told CBS 4 it would all be clear "in the end."
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.