Two people were killed in a shooting in Thornton early Friday, closing a section of Colorado Boulevard and leading to a subsequent crash between a Regional Transportation District train and a police truck, according to the police department.
A 911 caller reported at 4:53 a.m. that a vehicle had crashed into a pole along Colorado Boulevard between East 100th Avenue and Thornton Parkway. Officers arrived to find two people who had been shot inside the crashed vehicle.
A male passenger died at the scene, and the female driver was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. She died several hours later, Thornton police said.
Their names will be released by the Adams County coroner’s office.
Police closed that stretch of road for nearly six hours for the investigation, reopening it as of 10:38 a.m., department officials said on social media.
Investigators are still working to determine where the shooting occurred, police spokeswoman Kylynn McTague said.
“We have multiple detectives out here right now,” she said.
During the response to the shooting, a Thornton officer left a police vehicle on RTD train tracks for the N-Line, and an RTD train hit the empty police vehicle at 6:34 a.m., according to the State Patrol, which is investigating the crash. The N-Line crosses East 100th Avenue at Colorado Boulevard.
A on Friday showed a white pickup truck branded “Police” with its bed partially crushed against an RTD train at the crossing. The truck’s police lights were activated before the crash, Trooper Sherri Mendez said in a statement.
No one was injured in the collision either on the train or at the crime scene, Mendez said.
The officer had just arrived on scene and gotten out of the vehicle to determine where they were needed when the crash happened, McTague said in a briefing Friday morning. She declined to comment further on the officer’s decision to leave the truck on the tracks and referred to the state patrol’s investigation.
Passengers on the train disembarked and were transferred to RTD buses, Mendez said in a statement. The RTD train received “minor damage,” she said.
The N-Line train was replaced by shuttle buses for about four hours, with train service resuming at 10:45 a.m., RTD said. The agency is still providing supplemental bus service, and riders may still see delays,
Thornton police officials will launch a separate administrative investigation into the crash to “determine compliance with department policy,” the department said in a news release.
In response to a request for comment on RTD’s investigation into the crash, spokesperson Tina Jaquez said the state patrol is leading the investigation and added that trains cannot stop quickly because of their weight and speed.
“It is important to remind everyone to be safe around tracks and crossings,” she said.
