ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. — One person died in a standoff with Elbert County Sheriff's Office deputies on Wednesday at around 6:20 p.m.
Douglas Regional Dispatch Center got a 911 call about a domestic dispute in the area of County Road 77. Elbert County Sheriff's Office deputies tried talking to a suspect in a fifth wheel trailer who was armed with a handgun when they first arrived.
Deputies tried to get the man to come out of the trailer without the gun, but he refused to listen to requests for him to put the gun down, the Elbert County Sheriff's Office said. As he went back inside the trailer, deputies aimed less lethal projectiles at the suspect. He complained of back pain resulting from the encounter.
When he still wouldn't come out of the trailer, pepper ball rounds were shot through the trailer's door window. When the pepper rounds came through, the suspect fired two rounds from his gun, according to the Elbert County Sheriff's Office.
Three deputies returned fire. They unsuccessfully attempted to talk to the suspect for an hour after that. Two drones were then sent through the trailer's door window and got a visual of the suspect not moving on the ground in the trailer. Elbert County SWAT then entered the trailer and confirmed the suspect was dead.
No Elbert County Sheriff's Office deputies were injured. The deputies who shot at the suspect are on paid administrative leave, per sheriff's office policy. The 23rd Judicial District's Critical Incident Response Team is conducting an investigation into the shooting.
