Police said one man was dead when they arrived and an officer was hit in a second shooting in Commerce City on Tuesday evening.
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — A suspect is in the hospital after a shootout with Commerce City police Tuesday night.
The Commerce City Police Department (CCPD) responded to a call around 5:30 p.m. and upon their arrival they discovered a man who had died from a gunshot wound, according to Clint Nichols, the chief of the department.
Witnesses in the area described a suspect and when police officers approached a person of interest, they said he told the officers that he didn’t have anything to do with the incident.
While police were talking to the person of interest, shots were fired at them from a different suspect, Nichols said. Six officers then returned fire and one officer was hit, according to Nichols. That officer was not injured as police said the bullet appears to have gone through his sleeve.
Nichols said the officers were fired at multiple times and during the gunfire exchange, a suspect was hit. He was transported to the hospital with injuries, officials said. Police are not sure if he is the only suspect.
Police are trying to go into a house where they believe the suspect was and identify if there are any other shooters, Nichols said.
The officer that was hit is “shook up, but doing fine” police said.
The Critical Incident Response Team will investigate the officers involved and CCPD will investigate the homicide case.
Tuesday evening was National Night Out, an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.
“It throws a damper on what we thought this night would be,” Nichols said. “They had a variety of events, most didn’t have officers attending because they were responding to this scene.”
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Anyone with information is asked to contact Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at info@nococrimestoppers.com or 1-800-222-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
Calls to the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers are not recorded and the phone does not have caller ID, according to the NoCoCrimestoppers website. A coordinator completes a tips information form, makes initial inquiries and passes the information along to investigators.
A two-way dialogue system online also allows tipsters to come back and provide additional information and ask questions.
A community board of directors meets regularly to evaluate arrests and determine reward amounts.
> More information about Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers can be found here.
> Additional NoCo Crime Stoppers bulletins can be found here.
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