A man was killed Wednesday by a Boulder County sheriff’s deputy, ending an apparent kidnapping/hostage situation that began in Westminster and ended at the Doudy Draw Trailhead.
Cmdr. Heidi Prentup of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office told the Daily Camera that the three people involved in the incident, which began at 11:41 a.m., were related in some way.
Prentup did not say whether the deceased person was the kidnapping suspect or one of the people who were abducted.
According to the Westminster Police Department, the situation began when it received a telephone call requesting a welfare check for family members on the 10100 block of Benton Street. When officers contacted residents at the Benton Street address, it was determined the suspect had come to the residence to transfer the title of a vehicle.
Initially, officials said, it was thought two men from the home left with the suspect willingly. When officers asked family members at the residence to contact the men who had left with the suspect, it was determined they were being held against their will in the car.
The suspect is said to have made several threats to family members about killing everyone in the car and having a weapon with him.
Westminster police were able to determine the car was in the Boulder area and passed on the information to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
After several 911 calls, officials said deputies found the suspect’s car, a white Honda sedan, near the trailhead, 4100 Eldorado Springs Drive.
Prentup said in a news release that about 1:30 p.m., deputies “engaged” the people in the car, adding that a deputy observed a man in the back seat of the car with a gun pointed at the head of one person in the front seat.
The deputy fired one shot from a rifle, killing the man in the back seat. No one else was hurt.
The two other people in the Civic were taken for questioning, but at this time no one has been arrested, Prentup said.
The deputy involved in the shooting will be placed on leave pending an investigation by the Boulder County multi-jurisdictional shoot team.
Boulder police, city of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, and Westminster police are all helping with the investigation.
