Suspect is held after officer shot
Pedro Juan Gallegos, 40, is being held by Denver police as they investigate the shooting of a police officer on Saturday, according to the department.
The Denver Police Department is holding Gallegos for investigation of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a weapon by a previous offender and first-degree criminal trespassing.
An officer was shot in the leg Saturday night before 11 p.m. in the 4200 block of Alcott Street in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood. There was an hours-long manhunt that ensued into Sunday morning.
Following emergency surgery, the officer was listed in stable condition Sunday afternoon, Denver police said.
The officer and others were responding to a call about a person on a porch “that they did not belong at,” Division Chief Ron Thomas said at a 4 a.m. news conference Sunday.
Officers were fired on as they approached the porch, Thomas said. However, it was unclear if officers made contact with the person before the shooting started.
The suspect escaped during the aftermath of the shooting. Police shut down a several-block radius in Sunnyside and searched people’s yards with dogs. Several people were detained.
DIA construction to close Pena Boulevard.
Denver International Airport is continuing its construction project on Peña Boulevard, resulting in closures on Tuesday and Saturday.
The full inbound closure on Peña Boulevard at Jackson Gap Street will reroute traffic to the East Terminal from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on those dates. Additionally, the Regional Transportation District buses will pick up and drop off passengers on Level 6 East near Door 609.
DIA warns that during construction, drivers should plan for an additional 15 minutes of travel time.
Man dies in El Paso County Jail.
A man incarcerated in the El Paso County Jail died early Sunday morning, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
The man “was found in his cell unresponsive and not breathing” around 12:50 a.m., the sheriff’s office said in a news release. They did not release any additional details about the circumstances of the death, and did not say how long the man was unresponsive in the cell before deputies found him and began unsuccessful “life-saving measures.”
The man’s cause of death has not yet been determined and the investigation into what happened is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said. They labeled the death a “medical emergency.”
Victim from Cañon City police shooting identified.
One of the victims of the shooting near the Quality Inn on U.S. 50 has been identified by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Dalton Lee Buckholz, 28, was fatally shot by two Cañon City police officers after they attempted to make contact with him. Details regarding why officers were wanting to speak with Buckholz have not been released due to the current status of the investigation.
A 20-year-old passenger was also injured, but survived.
No officers were injured during the altercation, but the CBI said that the two remain on administrative leave.
After the investigation is completed, the CBI will submit the case to the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review.