Officer shot dead in Denver suburb
Officials say gunman barricaded himself in a room, wounded four other police
It began as a pre-dawn call for the police to a disturbance at an apartment complex in a Denver suburb on Sunday. It ended, officials said, in a fusillade of more than 100 rounds fired by a barricaded gunman who shot five law enforcement officers, killing one of them. The gunman was killed by officers.
Killed in the attack was Zackari Parrish, a 29-year-old deputy who had worked for the Douglas County sheriff’s office for seven months, Sheriff Tony Spurlock said at an afternoon news conference. He described Parrish as a “smiley kid” who was eager to serve. He is survived by a wife and two young children.
Describing his meeting with the deputy’s widow, the sheriff said, “When I held her hand and looked in her eyes, I could see her life was over.”
Two civilians, who the sheriff said were apparently in a neighbouring apartment, were also shot. Their injuries were not life-threatening.
A motorcade of law enforcement vehicles escorted a hearse carrying the slain deputy from the Littleton Adventist Hospital in Littleton, Colo.
U.S. President Donald Trump offered his condolences on Twitter, adding, “We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all!”
Hours after the attack, numerous questions remained, including the gunman’s motive, the type of weapon he used, what exactly happened leading up to the attack and where the officers were positioned in relation to the suspect.
Authorities on Sunday night identified the gunman as Matthew Riehl, 37.
The gunfire shattered a quiet New Year’s Eve morning at the Copper Canyon Apartments, which describes itself on its website as having some of the “friendliest apartments” in Highlands Ranch, Colo., about 25 kilometres south of Denver.
Police were first called to the apartment where the shooting occurred around 3 a.m. Denver time Sunday regarding a “verbal disturbance,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Facebook Sunday night that shifted some of the time elements discussed in the sheriff’s news conference.
Two men were in the apartment, and one said Riehl was “acting bizarre and might be having a mental breakdown,” the statement said. Deputies left at 3:44 a.m. as no crime had occurred.
Deputies were called back to the apartment by a neighbour at 5:14 a.m. about a disturbance, the sheriff said at the news conference. As outlined by the sheriff, what happened next was murky. The officers were talking to Riehl for about 30 minutes and at some point, he barricaded himself in a bedroom. At 5:56 a.m., four officers were hit by rounds fired from the bedroom. Three deputies were able to get to safety, but Parrish was unable to retreat. A SWAT team entered the apartment at about 7:30 a.m., and shots were exchanged between Riehl and officers, resulting in his death, the statement said. An officer from the Castle Rock Police Department was also shot and injured.
The sheriff said Riehl was known to authorities and had no criminal record but would not elaborate.
“He knew we were there, and he knew we were coming,” the sheriff said. He predicted a prolonged investigation that would draw on footage from officers’ body cameras.