REGIS RESPONDS TO “EXTERNAL DATA SECURITY THREAT”

Denver’s Regis University responded to an “external data security threat” Thursday by taking its information technology services offline, rendering the private religious college’s website inaccessible.

“We have retained a top forensic firm to respond and investigate the incident,” Regis officials said in a statement late Thursday afternoon.

“We sincerely regret the interruption to our daily operations, but remain focused on restoring services as soon as possible.

“Regis is committed to maintaining the safety and security of our students, who remain our top priority, and we will provide additional information once it is available.”

Details about the security threat were not immediately clear.

Regis officials declined to comment beyond their prepared statement.

RTD light-rail operator suspended over alleged use of cellphone while running train.

AnRTD light-rail operator is being investigated for allegedly using a cellphone while operating a train, a violation of policy because of safety concerns.

The allegation was reported to RTD on Thursday, and an investigation is underway, according to a news release.

Rail and bus operators undergo an extensive training process, according to the news release, which includes a variety of safety elements.

Man who fired 10 shots at deputies found guilty of attempted murder.

TY» A man

ADA M SC O U N who fired shots at Adams County sheriff’s deputies in 2017 was convicted Thursday of multiple charges, including attempted murder.

Troy Wayne Coen, 57, was convicted after a fourday trial on two counts of attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of attempted firstdegree assault and three counts of menacing, all felonies, according to the Adams County District Attorney’s Office.

On Sept. 27, 2017, Coen, armed with a gun, confronted and threatened neighbors about stealing marijuana grown in his backyard at 7762 Osage St., according to a news release.

Deputies were called to investigate, and Coen fired 10 rounds at Sgt. Chris Eye and Deputy Dustin Ball. The pair returned fire, hitting Coen in the abdomen. The deputies weren’t hit by gunfire. Coen was treated at a hospital and released.

Coen is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 17 in Adams County District Court.

Denver officer charged with beating handcuffed suspect resigns.

A Denver police corporal who pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor menacing in connection with an assault of a handcuffed man while working off-duty security has resigned.

Michael Oestmann resigned July 24, said Jay Castillas, a police spokesman.

Oestmann was charged with assault, but the March plea agreement led to the lesser charge and to probation. The plea deal allowed Oestmann to continue to carry a gun at the discretion of the police department.

At the time of his resignation, an internal investigation by the police department was ongoing, Castillas said. The internal investigation is now closed.

Oestmann, who had been with the department since 2005, was on paid administrative leave when he resigned. Before being placed on leave, the corporal had been assigned to a clerk position.

Oestmann was working as an off-duty security officer April 14, 2018, at Jackson’s Sports Bar on 20th Street in Lower Downtown when he detained a man suspected of participating in a bar fight.

The suspect, Kevin Watson, allegedly yelled insults and spat at Oestmann while sitting in the bar’s basement with his hands cuffed behind him. Then Oestmann attacked him, a police report showed. Watson was taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts on his face.

Although Oestmann was not on duty at the time, officers working off duty wear police uniforms and are bound by the department’s policies, although their wages are paid by third parties.

Man found passed out in truck with a gun and suspected drugs is headed to federal prison.

A Colorado Springs man and convicted felon was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after he was found intoxicated and passed out in a vehicle with the door open and a loaded firearm next to him, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rodney Paul Gonzales, 53, was indicted by a federal grand jury Sept. 11 and pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon, according to a news release. Gonzales was sentenced Wednesday.

Colorado Springs police responded to an apartment complex after getting a 911 call.

They found Gonzales spread out from the driver’s seat onto the passenger’s seat and found a handgun, with an obliterated serial number, in the passenger seat with four rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, according to the news release. In the center console, police found another 10 rounds of ammunition and suspected crack cocaine and a crack pipe, the news release stated.

Gas line break closes roads in Broomfield.

A gas line break Thursday morning near West 144th Avenue and Zuni Street in Broomfield closed roads, forced some residents to temporarily stay inside their homes and students in school while fire and Xcel Energy crews responded to the incident.

Repairs took several hours, so those driving near the area were asked to avoid 144th Avenue from Lowell Boulevard and Tejon Street. The repairs were completed at about 1:15 p.m.

Residents living at Fairwinds Townhomes south of the intersection sheltered in place as a precaution, North Metro Fire Rescue said on Twitter.

Students at Meridian Elementary School were asked to stay inside the school during recess because of the wind direction and possibility that odors would reach that area.

Hippos to return to Colorado after Missouri “vacation.”

SPRINGFIEL D, MO

Two hippo sisters are getting ready to return to their newly remodeled home in Colorado after spending nearly two years at a Missouri zoo.

The Springfield NewsLeader reported that the hippos came to the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield in October 2017 because the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs needed a place to put them while it created a new habitat.

The Springfield zoo had space for the sisters, named Zambezi and Kasai, because its beloved Henry the hippo was moved in 2016 to a new $8 million enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.

The Springfield zoo’s spokeswoman, Joey Powell, said the sisters were supposed to spend a year in Missouri, but construction delays made the stay longer.

Powell said they’ve been on “an extended vacation.”