Colorado Springs shopping mall shooting involving officer leaves 1 dead: Official

Annika Schmidt, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Updated ·1 min read

Apr. 3—A large police presence at The Citadel mall in east Colorado Springs on Monday night was connected to an officer-involved shooting, according to local law enforcement.

The Colorado Springs Police Department wrote in a statement, "at least one officer fired at least one round at the suspect," who was allegedly armed with a handgun inside the Burlington Coat Factory, police said.

Detectives originally located a man with at least one felony arrest warrant in a stolen vehicle. He allegedly met up with four other individuals in a second stolen car before traveling together to The Citadel mall at East Platte Avenue and North Academy Boulevard, police said.

Police conducted surveillance of the group on foot in the mall. Tactical officers contacted the five individuals as they exited the mall near the food court, police said.

Four were taken into custody, three of whom are juveniles, but police said the target suspect fled to the Burlington Coat Factory. "Once inside the store, the suspect produced the handgun and at least one officer fired at least one round at the suspect," CSPD wrote.

The suspect was taken to a hospital, police said. Gazette news partner KKTV reports that the suspect later died at the hospital. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said it will lead the investigation in the officer-involved shooting.

The involved parties have not been named.

As of Tuesday, the Burlington Coat Factory remained closed, pending an investigation, a Citadel mall associate said. The remaining stores at The Citadel mall remain open and are operating under normal business hours.