A man who died during a Sunday night traffic stop apparently shot himself, prompting a sheriff’s deputy to open fire on his car because he thought he and another deputy were under attack, authorities said Monday.
One deputy was injured in the shooting, which is being investigated by Denver police.
Police said an initial investigation shows that the suspect may have fired one self-inflicted gunshot wound, which exited the vehicle causing the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputy to be struck by debris.
A second deputy who heard the gunshot and saw the injured deputy then opened fire, according to police.
The two deputies stopped the suspect about 11:15 p.m. as he was driving on I-225 at the South Tamarac Street exit after he allegedly passed too close to an unrelated traffic stop on Interstate 25.
The deputies ran a check on the driver’s information and when they approached the car a second time, shots were fired.
The driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was identified Monday as Ian Santamaria, 31. Officials did not elaborate on his cause of death.
Police offered few details into the shooting at an afternoon press conference on Monday, declining to say how many shots were fired by the deputy or if Santamaria was shot by any law enforcement bullets.
Police Cmdr. Ron Saunier said it took a “long time” before Santamaria was finally stopped by the deputy, who left the initial traffic stop to pursue Santamaria. Once stopped, the deputy called for backup before the shooting began.
Santamaria was not wanted on any warrants, though he was about to be taken into custody on traffic offenses and for being a habitual traffic offender, according to Saunier.
Police said they would not immediately be releasing any further updates.
Authorities say the deputy injured in the shooting was not shot.
“He was treated and released from a local hospital,” said sheriff’s office Bureau Chief Glenn Thompson.
Per standard procedure, both officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation, Thompson said.
Investigators from the Denver Police Department — which will be leading the investigation — were on scene with their mobile crime lab until about 7 a.m. on Monday. The off-ramp was closed for several hours as authorities investigated the shooting.
Photos from the scene on Monday morning showed a bullet-riddled vehicle being towed away.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jesseapaul
