A man suspected of assaulting his mother in a Douglas County home was fatally shot Sunday after he pointed a weapon at responding deputies, sheriff’s officials said.
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Douglas County deputies responded to a home in the 3200 block of Weasel Way in Franktown just before 1 p.m. Sunday, after a child inside the house called 911 to report a man was assaulting their grandmother, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
A child and a woman ran from the home while deputies tried to contact the assault suspect inside the house, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said in a video briefing. One deputy spotted a man pointing a gun at the deputy through the open front door and shot at him. It’s unknown if the man shot at the deputy, Weekly said.
The man, who will be identified by the Douglas County Coroner’s Office, was later found dead inside the home. Whether the unidentified deputy fatally shot the man or the man shot himself remains under investigation, Weekly said.
“Our deputies are trained extremely well to handle calls like this, to de-escalate situations,” Weekly said. “This one evolved and escalated extremely rapidly. The deputy was faced with a life-or-death decision and did what they thought they had to do to save their own life and the lives of others.”
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Two children and the grandmother were safely removed from the home, sheriff’s officials said. The grandmother was the suspect’s mother, Weekly confirmed.
The 23rd Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team will investigate the fatal police shooting.
One Douglas County Regional SWAT vehicle hydroplaned in the heavy rain and crashed while responding to the incident, according to the sheriff’s office. The deputy driving the vehicle was taken to the hospital, treated and released.
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