A man who fired a shot during a confrontation with Larimer County sheriff’s deputies late Friday, prompting one of them to open fire, died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, a sheriff’s office spokesman said Monday.
Deputies confronted James D. Smith III, 65, of Livermore, at his ex-girlfriend’s home in the 100 block of Guardian Peak Drive in Glacier View, a neighborhood northwest of Fort Collins. She had called 911 just before 11 p.m., believing Smith had overdosed and needed medical attention, authorities have said.
But while deputies were en route, the woman called back and said Smith had left her home and was armed with a handgun. The woman locked herself inside.
Deputies arrived to find Smith breaking into the woman’s home and believed she was in danger. Smith raised his gun and fired a single shot, as did a deputy. Investigators determined Smith shot himself in the head, the only gunshot wound on his body, sheriff’s office spokesman John Schulz wrote in a news release. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The deputy, whom Schulz said would be identified later this week, has been placed on paid leave, as is protocol in officer-involved shootings. The sheriff’s office will review the shooting, and the Larimer County district attorney’s office will investigate the deputy’s use of force, Schulz said.
The deputies and Smith’s unidentified former girlfriend were unharmed.
