A Colorado Springs shooting has left four people dead, including the gunman, following a Saturday morning killing spree that appears to have been a random act of violence, the Colorado Springs Gazette is reporting .
4 dead, including suspect, in Colorado Springs shooting https://t.co/LlXLn4mYXw pic.twitter.com/U6J8eH6aYe
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Matt Abshire, 21, who lives in the area near where the shooting occurred, said that he heard the sound of gunfire shortly before 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. When he looked outside his kitchen window, he saw a man with a rifle shoot another man. Abshire followed the gunman as he called police on his cell phone.
“I looked out my kitchen window and I saw a man in a green jacket firing an AR-15…waited a few seconds, went out of my house, looked to my left and saw a man down the street, probably 50 feet. I started following him and I called the cops.”
The first victim, whose name has not been released as of this post, was found lying next to his bike , his backpack still on his back, according to KKTV (Colorado Springs). A small fire was found in a home nearby, believed to have been started by the gunman.
The gunman then continued walking through downtown Colorado Springs, followed by Abshire. As the gunman continued on his way, he saw two women and shot them both. Abshire approached one of them and tried to take her pulse, but she had already died.
“Still following him, he’s heading left on Platte towards Palmer High School… probably a hundred yards past El Paso Street he stops, turns to his left, fires four shots, shoots two ladies, one in the jaw, one in the chest if I’m not mistaken.”
As he approached a Wendy’s restaurant, the gunman was met by police. El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacqueline Kirby describes what happened next.
“They encountered him at the corner of Platte and Wahsatch, where the suspect opened fire on the officers and the officers returned fire.”
Witness Alisha Jaynes describes how the gunman was calm, even when surrounded by police.
“Me and my son were at the 7-Eleven using the ATM… as soon as I walked outside I heard six gunshots up the street…. We see the cop cars swarm in. I saw the guy with the gun just walking with the gun in his hand…. Just calm, standing there with a gun in his hand.”
Witness Aaron Nicks said the gunman went down in a hail of bullets when he appeared to aim his gun at the police.
“They yelled, ‘Put the gun down,’ and he turned around, and that’s when they shot at him a good 20 times… There was a lot of gunfire. He was running across the street right here [points at Wahsatch] and they pretty much shot him down. What I saw was he kind of, like, spun around and [police] yelled, ‘Drop it,’ and he kind of [gestures as though he’s holding a gun] went to aim and that’s when they shot him down.”
Per Colorado Springs Police Department procedure, all of the police officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave while the crime is investigated. Because of a Colorado law that requires all officer-involved shootings to be investigated by outside agencies, Saturday’s shooting will be investigated by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, rather than the Colorado Springs Police Department.
As of this post, none of the names of the victims of Saturday’s shooting, including that of the gunman, have been released, and police have not disclosed a possible motive.
[Image via Shutterstock / BasPhoto ]