Fatal shooting Saturday 'unrelated' to other incidents
A man was shot and killed and another man was arrested Saturday after a shooting near Fort Collins, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office said.
A massive law enforcement presence about 5:15 p.m. Saturday flooded the area of East 57th Street and Thomas Court, just north of Loveland's city limits. A spectacle of marked and unmarked emergency vehicles, camouflaged SWAT team officers and medical personnel tested nerves in a neighborhood already on heightened alert after the recent weeks' string of unsolved attacks — including Wednesday's nearby homicide.
"Currently this is being investigated as unrelated to any other recent shootings," Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokesman David Moore told the Coloradoan. He declined to say what may have prompted the shooting, though he did say Saturday's situation was resolved and there was no ongoing threat to public safety.
Deputies responded to a reported shooting in a narrow patch of unincorporated Larimer County between Fort Collins and Loveland. That area, about two miles south of Colorado Highway 392, is a mixture of tightly-packed single family homes and grassy yards occupied by goats and horses, all with of view of snow-capped Longs Peak.
MAP: Locations of Northern Colorado shootings
Responders located the wounded man at the scene. Medical crews from Thompson Valley EMS worked to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff's office said.
His name has not yet been released pending notification of next of kin. First responders reported the man suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, though additional details about the man's injuries or what prompted the shooting were not immediately made available. Those details will likely emerge in coming days.
The suspect in the case "cooperated and was taken into custody" the sheriff's office said in a statement late Saturday night.
But before that happened, officers in a coordinated effort worked to clear the house, arrest the man and secure neighboring properties. The suspect's name has not yet been released, and charges are pending.
The situation quickly eased, and the road was reopened about 7 p.m.
The coroner's office, forensics units, local investigators and Larimer County District Attorney Cliff Riedel remained at the scene through the evening talking to witnesses and collecting evidence.
"It sounded like fireworks going off. It was pretty damn loud," said Keith Atkins, who lives down the street from where the shooting happened. "We never have anything going on around here. It's quiet. It's one of the reasons we moved up here."
Some residents were kept temporarily from returning to their homes. As they watched the police activity, several said they hoped deputies had arrested a suspect in the recently-linked Windsor and Interstate 25 shootings. Others said they wondered if it was connected to Wednesday night's homicide that happened just 5 miles away.
No suspects have been publicly identified in any of those incidents. Wednesday's shooting has not yet been officially linked to the other shootings, though officials have not ruled out a connect.
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Reporter Jason Pohl covers breaking news and law enforcement for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason.