Five sheriff’s deputies were shot and one of them killed following a domestic disturbance call in a Denver suburb, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Three patients with non-critical injuries were treated and released from Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colorado, according to hospital spokeswoman Linda Watson.
A motorcade accompanied the fallen officer from a hospital in nearby Littleton.
The incident happened shortly after 5 a.m. at the Copper Canyon Apartments in Highlands Ranch, about 20 miles south of Denver.
« Any citizens in the affected area are instructed to shelter in place, avoid windows and stay away from exterior walls, » the sheriff’s office tweeted. An emergency shelter has also been set up for those displaced by the massive police response.
Steven Silknitter, a resident of the Copper Canyon apartment complex, said he rushed home to check on his fiancee after hearing of the shooting and arrived to hear a « barrage of gunfire exchange. »
The area was blocked off, and Silknitter said he saw at least 20 police vehicles.
« I was deathly afraid that I was going to go home and she’d be gone… I didn’t know what I was going to find, » he told CNN affiliate KMGH.
« It’s the last thing I would have thought of at my complex, » he said. « It’s like something out of a movie. »
President Trump tweeted his « deepest condolences to the victims of the terrible shooting in Douglas County… and their families. »
