Armed suspect shot, killed by Glenwood Springs police officer, chief says

A police officer in Glenwood Springs shot and killed an armed man after trying to contact him in a shopping center parking lot on Monday afternoon, Glenwood Springs Police Chief Joseph Deras said.

In a Monday news conference, Deras said two uniformed officers approached a man they had recently secured an arrest warrant for just before 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Glenwood Meadows shopping center. When they approached him, he pulled out a gun and one of the officers fired his weapon at the man, striking him, Deras said.

"As the suspect moved toward his vehicle, the officers took up a secondary position and again engaged the suspect with gunfire. One officer was involved in that shooting exchange and the suspect was wounded and took refuge behind a vehicle," Deras said.

The officers stayed in place until backup arrived. More officers eventually approached the suspect and called paramedics, who pronounced the suspect dead at the scene.

The entire shooting took place in the parking lot of the shopping center.

Deras did not identify the suspect but said he had a felony warrant for firearms. The coroner will identify him.

The suspect had what Deras described as a "high-capacity firearm with several rounds in the gun itself and it's my understanding that the suspect had access to additional ammunition."

Images of the scene captured by shoppers and business owners showed a large police presence with a section of the parking lot roped off with crime scene tape.

"I pulled everyone from our patio, got them inside, locked our back doors, locked our front doors," Gentiana Sundeen, co-owner of Zhen Asian Bistro, told CBS News Colorado. "Lots of families with kids today, being a holiday, everybody off of school, probably thought 'strange,' but I tried to keep everybody calm and just tell them everybody calm, this is all we know, but we're gonna keep y'all inside and let's just see how it goes."

Deras said no bystanders or officers were injured and said the area would be closed off for about eight hours.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the shooting and the Glenwood Springs Police Department will conduct a parallel investigation. The officer who fired his weapon will be placed on paid administrative leave, pending those investigations.

The emergency response included "the vast majority" of law enforcement agencies in Garfield County, Deras said.

Glenwood Springs is about 160 miles west of Denver.