COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A man suspected in the killing a Colorado sheriff's deputy fired a semi-automatic handgun during a struggle with multiple officers, authorities said Tuesday.
Manuel
Zetina, 19, struggled with officers after he exited a stolen vehicle
and was confronted in the parking lot of an apartment complex Monday
afternoon, according to Colorado Springs police. Zetina was shot and
died at the scene.
Rick Beckner
salutes the procession for El Paso County Sheriff's Deputy Micah Flick
while holding his flag on the side of the road outside of the El Paso
County Coroner's Office, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Colorado Springs,
Colo. (Nadav Soroker/The Gazette via AP)
El Paso County sheriff's Deputy Micah Flick, 34, was also killed in
the shootout. He was Colorado's third law enforcement officer to be
killed in five weeks, marking the closest string of on-duty deaths in
three decades.
The last time this many Colorado officers were
killed in the line of duty so close together was in 1987, when three
were killed within a month.
Sheriff's Sgt. Jake Abendshan, Deputy
Scott Stone, Colorado Springs Police Detective Marcus Yanez and a
bystander were injured in Monday's shooting.
"A number of other
officers" were at the scene but not injured, El Paso County Sheriff Bill
Elder said, calling the shooting "senseless violence."
He said
the plainclothes officers were part of a group that works together
regularly and that they all wore protective vests as well as placards
and badges identifying them as law enforcement.
Stone was shot in
abdomen and hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday. His injuries did
not appear life-threatening, authorities said. Abendshan, who appears to
have been hit by shrapnel, was treated and released Monday night.
Yanez,
who also was shot, has since been released from a hospital. The name
and condition of the bystander who was shot have not been released.
The
shooting comes just days after the funeral for Adams County Deputy
Heath Gumm, who was shot Jan. 24 while chasing a suspect. On Dec. 31,
Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parrish died after he was shot in suburban
Denver by a man with a history of mental health issues.
Flick,
who grew up in Colorado Springs, was killed on his 11th anniversary with
the sheriff's office. He leaves behind a wife and 7-year-old twins, a
boy and a girl.
Elder said he believes a lack of respect for law enforcement has developed in the past few years.
"And
frankly it just shocks me, it shocks my staff, it shocks the leadership
of public safety throughout the country," the sheriff said.
Gov. John Hickenlooper ordered that flags on state buildings be lowered.
"We
will once more come together to provide sympathy and strength for the
deputy's loved ones and pray for the recovery of those injured; however,
we also must come together and say enough is enough," he said in a
statement.
