Deadly standoff near Pueblo County elementary school

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - A standoff in Pueblo County ended with the suspect’s death early Wednesday morning.

The sheriff’s office say the suspect was fatally shot after he threatened law enforcement with a gun.

The incident started hours earlier when gunshots were heard just near North Mesa Elementary School.

“Classes had already been dismissed for the day; however there were still some students and staff at the school,” the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office said. “The school was placed on lockdown for approximately an hour as deputies investigated the shots fired call. All students and staff were safely escorted from the school by sheriff’s deputies.”

The sheriff’s office determined a man who lived on 29th Lane adjacent to the school playground was firing off his gun.

“Some students were on the playground at the time the shots were fired. Deputies attempted to contact the suspect at the home, but he refused to speak to them and threatened deputies with a gun,” PCSO said.

This prompted an hours-long standoff at the home as law enforcement tried to get the suspect to peacefully surrender.

“The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team was activated to execute the [arrest and search] warrants due to the public safety risk for the nearby residents and the school. SWAT team and negotiators attempted for several hours to communicate with the suspect to get him to surrender peacefully. The man refused repeated verbal commands,” the sheriff’s office said.

At one point, gas was released into the home, but the suspect still refused to come out.

Early Wednesday, SWAT went into the house and found the suspect aiming his gun at them.

“Shots were fired. The suspect was pronounced deceased,” the sheriff’s office said.

The incident is now under investigation by several outside agencies, as per state law. Two deputies have been placed on administrative leave, which is also standard procedure.

The suspect has not been identified at the time of this writing.

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