Officers respond to a shooting that left three people dead in Arvada, Colorado
DENVER (Colorado, US), June 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three people are dead, including a police officer, after a shooting in Arvada, Colorado, on Monday.
A bystander and the suspect were also killed, officials said.
The city of Arvada is located about 10 miles north of Denver.
The incident began around 1:15 p.m. when an officer responded to reports of a “suspicious incident” in the Old Town Square, Arvada Deputy Chief Ed Brady said.
Just after 1:30 p.m., 911 calls came in about shots fired, and that an Arvada police officer had been hit by gunfire.
Police said the suspect was killed by police and will be identified by the coroner’s office. Another person, police believe, was shot by the gunman, and died after he was transported to the hospital, the news outlet reported.
“We heard at least four gunshots and we ran inside of the restaurant and people were diving under the tables and then the managers tried to get everyone down to the basement,” Michelle Engelbrecht, who witnessed the shooting, said.
Veronica Carlson, the manager of Hunter Bay Coffee, said she was in the basement of the shop when an employee ran downstairs. The employee had been on break outside when gunshots were heard, Carlson said.
“We ushered everyone away from the windows (and) tried to keep them happy and give them drinks if they wanted to,” Carlson said.
Brady said there were many “moving pieces” in the investigation but that there was no threat to the community. No other suspects are being sought, he said.
The officer was only the third to die in the line of duty in Arvada Police Department history and the first to die in a shooting, Brady said.
“We are closely monitoring the troubling situation in Arvada. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the officer who was tragically killed in the line of duty while swiftly and bravely responding to protect civilians in the area,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis in a statement.
“It’s a horribly sad day for the city of Arvada,” Arvada Mayor Marc Williams was quoted as saying by KCNC-TV, a CBS owned-and-operated television station, noting that the community has been very safe for many years and “only lost two officers on duty in the history of the city.”
The City Hall was closed for the remainder of the day to ensure resources are available to assist the Police Department and other public safety partners in responding to the event.
The shooting came after two high-profile mass shootings in Colorado this year. Seven people, including a gunman, were killed after a mass shooting at a birthday party in Colorado Springs in the state on May 9. Ten people, including one police officer, were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder on March 22.
There have been 297 mass shootings and more than 20,800 people died from gun violence so far in the United States this year, according to data from Gun Violence Archive, an online site that collects gun violence statistics in the country. — NNN-AGENCIES
