A 45-year-old man who fired a weapon at deputies was fatally shot this morning in El Paso County when deputies returned fire, the sheriff’s office said.
At about 12:25 a.m. deputies were sent to the 6400 block of Cool Well Drive in response to a caller who said he’d been in fight with his father and had been shot at, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said in a media release.
When deputies arrived the caller was not there. He continued to call dispatchers but was unintelligible and uncooperative, the release said.
At about 2 a.m. deputies were able to trace the man to the the 6100 block of Vessey Road. While searching that area, deputies heard a single gun shot.
At about 4:25 a.m. deputies came across an armed man and ordered him to drop his weapon, the sheriff’s office said.
Over a 20-minute period deputies ordered the man to disarm several times. A deputy attempted to taser the man but was not successful.
The man “fired his weapon towards deputies at which point, several deputies returned fire,” the sheriff’s office said.
Four deputies who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of an investigation.
The deputies, ranging in age from 26 to 46 and who have 26 years of combined experience with the sheriff’s office, were not identified.
The sheriff’s office did not identify the man who was fatally shot.
His identity will be released pending notification of family, the sheriff’s office said.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
