One suspect is dead after an officer-involved shooting at a popular, open-air mall on the Western Slope.
The Glenwood Springs Police Department said two officers were on patrol at the Glenwood Meadows Shopping Center around 1 p.m. Sunday when they recognized a suspect with an outstanding felony warrant on firearms charges. Police said the man pulled out a gun when he saw the uniformed officers. Both officers retreated, and one fired at the suspect.
As the suspect moved toward his vehicle, the officer shot again, and the suspect took cover behind a parked car.
Police said the officers didn’t know whether the suspect, who was carrying a high-capacity firearm, was wounded, reloading or trying to clear a malfunction with his gun, so they held their position until more resources arrived. The Glenwood Springs Fire Department declared the suspect dead at the scene.
Glenwood police have not released the name of the deceased but confirmed he was a white male who lived in the area.
As is routine, the officer who fired at the man has been placed on administrative leave while Glenwood police investigate the shooting. The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office will conduct a parallel investigation into the incident.
A large part of the shopping center, home to high-end restaurants and large chain stores, was blocked off Sunday night as the Colorado Bureau of Investigation helped assess the scene. Glenwood police fully reopened the parking lot around 10 p.m. and allowed people to retrieve their vehicles.
Officer-involved shootings are rare in the small mountain communities that make up the Roaring Fork Valley. Walt Stowe, public information officer with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, said his department has had two in the last four years – and that he wasn’t aware of any others during the same timeframe involving the various police departments in the county.
The fact that this incident took place at a busy shopping area in the middle of the day makes it even more unusual.
“Our community was fortunate that nobody else was shot or injured,” Stowe said.
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