Castle Rock police shoot, kill man who shot at officers

Police officers in Castle Rock shot and killed a man who was shooting at them. The shootout happened late Wednesday night.

According to Castle Rock police, officers were called to a disturbance about 10:15 p.m. near the intersection of Bilberry Street and Celestial Avenue. The person told 911 dispatchers that a man who had a stick grabbed the reporting party's phone and broke it. The man then left the scene and possibly had a shotgun.

When officers arrived, they said the man had a shotgun in his hand and was seen breaking into a leasing office of a nearby apartment community. That's when officers said the man barricaded himself inside the building. Officers said they heard at least one shot fired from inside.

Officers said minutes later, the man left the building with a handgun. That's when he fired at officers, who returned fire and struck him. Officers immediately provided medical aid to the man but he died at the scene. No officers were hurt.

The officers have been placed on administrative leave, per department policy. The Critical Incident Response Team of the District Attorney's Office will conduct an independent investigation of the incident.

Anyone who witnessed this incident or can provide investigators with additional details is asked to contact the Castle Rock Police Department's tip line at 720-733-3517 or CrimeTips@CRgov.com .