ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. — One person died in a standoff with Elbert County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Wednesday at around 6:20 p.m.
A 911 call reporting a domestic dispute in the vicinity of County Road 77 was received by the Douglas Regional Dispatch Center. Upon the arrival of Elbert County Sheriff’s Office deputies, they approached a suspect inside a fifth wheel trailer who was in possession of a handgun.
Efforts were made by the deputies to persuade the man to exit the trailer without the weapon, but he ignored their instructions to disarm, as stated by the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office. After the suspect returned inside the trailer, deputies deployed non-lethal projectiles in his direction. The suspect later expressed experiencing back pain as a result of the confrontation.
Despite continued attempts to coax the suspect out of the trailer, pepper ball rounds were eventually fired through the door window of the trailer. Following the discharge of the pepper rounds, the suspect discharged two shots from his firearm, according to the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office.
Three deputies returned fire. They unsuccessfully attempted to talk to the suspect for an hour after that. Two drones were then sent through the trailer’s door window, and got a visual of the suspect not moving on the ground in the trailer. Elbert County SWAT then entered the trailer and confirmed the suspect was dead.
No Elbert County Sheriff’s Office deputies were injured. The deputies who shot at the suspect are on paid administrative leave, per sheriff’s office policy. The 23rd Judicial District’s Critical Incident Response Team is conducting the investigation into the shooting.
