CORTEZ, Colo.—An 18-hour standoff at a suspected robber’s southwest Colorado home ended Tuesday after the man fired at deputies, wounding one, and was later found dead inside the residence, authorities said.
The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Department identified the suspect as Joseph Karjanik, 53, of Cortez. Sheriff Gerald Wallace said Karjanik was found dead when officers entered his house at about 12:45 p.m.
Wallace declined to speculate how Karjanik died. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has taken over the scene.
Wallace said a deputy’s arm was grazed by a bullet when Karjanik fired on deputies early Tuesday. The deputy was treated and released from the hospital.
Authorities said the standoff started Monday night when deputies tried to serve warrants on Karjanik following a holdup at an area liquor store. Wallace said the store owners, who were robbed at gunpoint, gave deputies a good description of the suspect and his license plate number.
Officers tried talking to Karjanik, who was alone in his house. Wallace said the suspect wouldn’t leave the house, even when tear gas was lobbed inside.
Karjanik went outside and started shooting when more tear gas was lobbed into the house around 2 a.m. Tuesday, Wallace said. That’s when the deputy was wounded.
A robot from the Farmington, N.M., bomb squad was sent with a phone into the home to try to establish contact with Karjanik. Wallace said the phone wasn’t answered and a camera on the robot indicated Karjanik was dead.
The sheriff’s department got help from the Cortez, Durango and La Plata police and the Farmington, N.M., SWAT team.
Cortez is 250 miles southwest of Denver.
