Details emerge on shooter of deputies

DENVER — Authorities in suburban Denver were investigating what led a 37-yearold man to fire more than 100 rounds on sheriff’s deputies, killing one and injuring four others. Two civilians were also injured.

That investigation included the revelations that Matthew Riehl, whom police fatally shot Sunday in Highlands Ranch, about 15 miles south of Denver, was an attorney and an Iraq war veteran who was the subject of a warning to University of Wyoming students two months ago.

A Nov. 6 email from Lindsay Hoyt, assistant dean of the university’s College of Law, told students to notify campus police if they saw Riehl or his vehicle near campus. The email included a photo of Riehl and his car. Riehl graduated from the College of Law in 2010.

University spokesman Chad Baldwin said Monday that the school in Laramie, Wyo., was investigating social media posts in which Riehl mentioned the College of Law and some of its employees. The posts did not contain any direct threats.

Baldwin said security on campus was increased for several days.

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said Riehl was well-known to authorities in the Denver area but had no criminal record.

Riehl on Dec. 13 had posted a YouTube video called “Fire Sheriff Spurlock.” Riehl pledged to run for the office as a libertarian, then ended his video with holiday greetings and a vow to “fire all these bums come early next year.”

Riehl is vague in the video about his political beliefs and personal grievances, though his animosity clearly ran deep. In the video, he flashed the business card of an officer who, he says, shows up at homes after sunset with an attractive woman and “will then ambush you from behind the door.”

A video posted Nov. 28 shows a traffic stop by a police officer in the city of Lone Tree — apparently taken inside the officer’s car — that Riehl said was done illegally. He accuses the officer of clocking the wrong driver, identifying the officer by name in the video and calling him “dirty.”

“Scumbag, dirtbag, liar,” he says in the video as the officer questions the driver. “He’s the boss, huh? He’s the Nazi in charge with the stripes on his shoulder and the fake badge.”

In Littleton, Colo., a candlelight vigil was scheduled for Monday evening for Riehl’s victim, Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parrish. The vigil was planned at Mission Hills Community Church, which Parrish, 29, attended with his wife and young daughters. Pastor Craig Smith told KDVR-TV that he’s heard from people that Parrish loved his community and saw being a police officer as a calling and a way to serve.

Information for this article was contributed by Sadie Gurman, Terry Tang and David Zalubowski of The Associated Press.