Editor’s note: 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason announced in a July 10, 2025, decision letter that criminal charges will not be filed against Thornton Police Officer Robert Smedley in this case. Read the letter .
Neighbors in a north Thornton subdivision were left reeling Wednesday, Oct. 9 after a man exchanged gunfire with police officers outside his home that morning, injuring two before he was shot and later found dead. Investigators are still determining what sparked the shooting and whether he was killed by police.
One officer was treated and released from the hospital after being struck by shrapnel and broken glass during the shooting, Thornton Police Department Interim Chief Greg Reeves said at a briefing.
The man — later identified as 37-year-old William George Skells by the Adams County Coroner’s Office — shot and seriously injured a second officer, who is expected to survive and is in stable condition at a hospital.
A week after Skells was found dead in his Thornton home, the coroner said his cause and manner of death were still under investigation.
The officers who fired their weapons during the shooting are on administrative leave, which is standard procedure during police shooting investigations.
Reeves did not specify how many officers fired their weapons and was unable to answer some questions about the shooting because it’s now being investigated by the 17th Judicial District’s Critical Incident Response Team and not the police department.
A passerby walking their dog called 911 around 8 a.m. Wednesday after hearing “popping” sounds and seeing smoke at a home in the 16000 block of Columbine Street in the Orchard Farms subdivision, Reeves said.
Officers surrounded the house and Skells walked out with a long rifle and shot at officers around 9 a.m., injuring two before police returned fire and shot Skells, who then retreated inside the house.
Gunshots continued to echo from inside the home for more than two hours Wednesday between when officers arrived around 8 a.m. and when the threat was cleared at 10:37 a.m., according to police officials.
Thornton police and SWAT officers used a drone to look inside the house and found Skells’ body when officers entered, Reeves said. Police officials have not confirmed whether Skells died from police gunfire or a self-inflicted wound.
Investigators believe Skells lived in the house. He was the only person inside the home during the shooting, Reeves said.
It’s not clear whether Skells spoke to police before he started shooting or how many weapons were inside the home, Reeves said.
Missy Kramer, who lives across from the house on Columbine Street, said a mother and her adult son lived in the house.
“They kept to themselves,” Kramer said.
Kramer was rattled by the shooting so close to her house and her hands trembled as she spoke.
The Lewis family was driving home after dropping their daughter off at school Wednesday morning and saw fire trucks and EMS vans in the neighborhood. Their 5-year-old son, William, was excited by the rescue workers and asked to get a closer look.
But as they pulled closer they saw three police officers with rifles crouched behind a truck, Katie Lewis, 38, said. She said she heard popping but didn’t realize it could be gunfire.
“It was denial,” she said. “I didn’t think it was gunfire, just noises you hear out and about.”
They turned around and went home to check the neighborhood Facebook group.
“We didn’t realize how serious it was until we got home,” she said.
Nicole Duncan, 48, lives about two blocks from the house where gunfire erupted Wednesday. Duncan heard multiple shots coming from the house but didn’t see anyone get hit.
“I walk the neighborhood daily and I feel safe,” Duncan said. “I can’t imagine being the first person who heard it while walking a dog and calling the police.”
The fairly new subdivision is just off Colorado 7 and York Street and is surrounded by fields, horses and farms. Yards are filled with pretend gravestones and inflatable, green slime monsters as neighbors compete in the subdivision’s Halloween decorating contest.
Updated 10:35 a.m. Oct. 16, 2024: This article was updated to include the man’s identity.
