A Colorado deputy sheriff died Sunday afternoon following a shooting at an apartment on New Year’s Eve.
Zachary Parrish, 29, was rendered unconscious by the shooting and didn’t survive his injuries, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said.
Four other officers by the names of Mike Doyle, 28, Taylor Davis, 30, Jeff Pelle 32 and Tom O’Donnell, 41, were injured along with two civilians. O’Donnell is an officer with Castle Rock Police while the other three deputies were with Douglas County. All the officers who survived are in stable condition and both civilians suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
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The situation began around 5:15 a.m. local time when police responded to a domestic disturbance on the 3400 block of County Line Road. Once the officers arrived, Spurlock said they were met with gunfire. The suspect fired over 100 rounds during the engagement, Spurlock continued.
In a press conference, Spurlock told reporters that the suspect is believed to be dead. While police believe the suspect was known to them, they did not release their name.
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While the sheriff didn’t know the order in which the officers were shot, he did know “that all of them were shot very, very quickly and they all went down within seconds of each other.”
He added that the suspect’s weapon was a rifle, but didn’t reveal more details.
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Spurlock went on to explain how after the officers were shot down, Parrish was unconscious while the others were able to crawl despite their injuries. After the other officers had cleared the immediate area, the suspect continued shooting at the officers over Parrish.
By the time Parrish was rescued, “he had no ability to survive the injuries and the locations that he was his,” Spurlock said a physician confirmed.
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“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Zachary. I sat with his wife and held her hand I could see in her eyes her life was over,” Spurlock said.
Parrish is survived by his wife and two young children.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told the New York Times that a SWAT team was also present at the scene.
Spurlock also confirmed that the officers had been called to the same apartment earlier because of a noise complaint, but couldn’t find any evidence that there were any issues, and left.
Two males lived in the apartment where the shooting took place.
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Spurlock added that an investigation would take several days, and expressed his deep condolences for Parrish’s family’s loss.
C-470 is closed from Quebec Street to University Boulevard and County Line Road is closed from Colorado Boulevard to University Boulevard for the investigation.
The sheriff’s office asked the public to avoid the area and issued a “code red” to residents nearby, asking them to stay inside and avoid windows.
President Donald Trump offered his condolences to the victims of the shooting Sunday afternoon.
Douglas County is located about 60 kilometres south of Denver.
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