2 killed in pursuit, officer shooting that started in Thornton and ended in Lakewood

DENVER (KDVR) — Several police agencies were investigating a pursuit and a deadly shooting involving an officer Tuesday morning.

Just before 7 a.m., the Thornton Police Department tweeted that an officer was involved in a shooting in Lakewood following a pursuit.

At around 2:37 a.m., Thornton police officers said they noticed a suspicious car without license plates in the area of East 84th Avenue and Washington Street.

Man shot after allegedly driving at Englewood police; 2 hurt in crash after pursuit

Officers followed the car for nearly 13 miles into Lakewood before a suspect got outside of the vehicle at Alameda Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Thornton police said the suspect fired a gun at officers.

The pursuit continued into the area of West 2nd Avenue and Garrison Street, about another 3 miles.

At that point, Thornton police said the pursuit ended and two people exited the car. One of the suspects was allegedly armed with a handgun.

Officers fired shots and both suspects were hit, according to Thornton Police. No officers were injured.

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Both the suspects were pronounced dead on scene. Their identities will be released at a later date.

FOX31’s Courtney Fromm went to both Lakewood scenes where several police agencies were assisting in the investigation. The Jefferson County Critical Incident Response Team will take over the investigation.

The officers involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave per protocol. It is unclear at this time how many officers fired shots or how many shots each officer fired.

FOX31’s Vicente Arenas talked to several people who live where the shooting happened.

“As soon as I looked outside I saw what I imagined to be about 15 police cars,” said a neighbor, Devin Norcross.

“I heard tires screeching and then just a bunch of pops like pop, pop, pop, pop! I was like, that sounds like gunshots. You always hear about police chases. You don’t expect them to happen right in front of you,” ‘Cameron’ told Arenas.

“We heard like sirens and then we heard a crunch, crash and then five shots. Like really fast boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,” neighbor Lisa Fitzingo said.

“My mom woke me up. The whole inside our house was just lit up from all the lights! I know we live on a busy street but we’ve never had anything like this,” said another neighbor, Karen Sierra.

Garrison Street was shut down from 1st and 3rd place. The roadway reopened just before 11 a.m.

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