Man killed after alleged shootout with officer at Thornton rec center
DENVER (KDVR) — A Thornton police officer shot and killed a man after police said the man fired shots in a recreation center parking lot.
Just before 8:30 a.m., the Thornton Police Department tweeted about a large police presence in the area of the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center at the 11100 block of Colorado Boulevard.
Officers said they were investigating a shooting involving an officer.
At around 7:55 a.m., an officer said he noticed a car driving erratically near the intersection of East 112th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.
When the officer tried talking to the driver, he fled from the scene, according to Thornton police.
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Police said the man fired a gun at the officer in the center parking lot. The officer fired his gun in turn and hit the suspect.
The man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The officer was not injured in the shooting, according to Thornton police.
Witnesses recount shooting
There was a crew of people paving the parking lot when the shooting happened.
Many of them told FOX31’s Vicente Arenas they saw the chaos unfold and heard the shots.
“He (police officer) just drove his motorcycle over there and started shooting (at) different cars,” crew member Santos Ramirez said.
People began scrambling.
“They were just running (inside the building),” witness Giovanni Mojica said.
Emmanuel Chavez watched the whole thing happen.
“It was crazy because some lady was standing right by that motorcycle and she was just in shock, and a whole bunch of other people were walking and they started running,” Chavez said.
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SkyFOX was over the scene where several police officers were in the parking lot of the recreation center. A car can also be seen with its two front windows shattered. It is unclear if this car belonged to the suspect or a bystander.
FOX31’s Courtney Fromm was at the center and spoke to some witnesses who said they were not told to evacuate and stay inside while police investigated.
The identity of the man will be released by the Adams County Coroner’s Office.
The investigation will be turned over to the 17th Judicial District’s Critical Incident Response Team. The officer involved will be placed on administrative leave per department protocol.
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