A man died Sunday after exchanging gunshots with a Fort Collins police officer at an apartment complex after the officer responded to a suspicious person call, authorities said.
The officer was shot in his bulletproof vest. It’s not known how many times the suspect was shot. Both men were taken to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. Fort Collins patrol officers are required to wear bulletproof vests.
A witness called police at 3:45 p.m. and reported seeing a suspicious person, said Fort Collins Deputy Chief Cory Christensen.
The police officer responded to the apartment complex near the busy intersection of Drake Road and Shields Street, Christensen said. The apartments are on the southwest corner of the intersection.
The officer spotted a man lying on the floor in an apartment stairwell.
As the officer approached, the man pulled out a gun and shot the officer. The officer fired back, striking and injuring the man, Christensen said.
Arzelia Morgan, 57, who lives at Cimarron Square Townhouses, 2601 Davidson Dr., said she was out front smoking when she heard what sounded like fireworks.
“There were two pops and then there were three or four pops,” she said. “Then every cop in town showed up.”
Christensen said that although police officers regularly answer suspicious person calls, they are cautious each time, knowing what can go wrong.
“This kind of call — it’s a regular call that we handle every day,” he said. “The uncommon part is that the suspect shot at him.”
When asked whether the officer followed proper procedures, Christensen replied, “Absolutely.”
Detectives are investigating the case, he said. They will present the evidence to the Larimer County district attorney’s office for review.
Police are not releasing the names of the suspect or the police officer.
The injured officer has been on the police force for less than a year, Christensen said. However, he was a police officer in other jurisdictions before he came to Fort Collins, he said.
The officer has been placed on paid leave of absence.
“The main reason is for the welfare of the individual who was involved in the shooting,” Christensen said.
He said the last officer-involved shooting in Fort Collins was in June when a man charged a police officer with a gun. The suspect was shot but survived. Before that it had been two years since the previous officer-involved shooting.
Morgan said the area has a lot of traffic and the biggest thing that usually happens are multiple-car accidents.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kirkmitchell, denverpost.com/coldcases
