A most-wanted man was critically wounded early Wednesday in Pueblo after being shot by police officers trying to arrest him.
The shooting happened about 1 a.m. on the 1800 block of East Routt Avenue in the city’s Bessemer neighborhood.
Police say the man shot was on the Pueblo SAFE Streets most-wanted list and that he produced a gun when officers closed in on him in the backyard of a home.
The shooting is under investigation by county prosecutors, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and police.
Police did not release the name of the wanted man.
In March, Pueblo police by releasing weekly posters targeting gang-affiliated criminals as part of efforts to bolster the city’s battle against gang violence. The initiative includes involvement from the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force.
Violence in Pueblo has soared over the past two years, pushing the city’s per-capita homicide rate , a Denver Post analysis found. Police blame an ongoing gang war and a dearth of available officers to address the problem.
