Just when you think people can't get any more stupid...
1 killed, 1 injured in roadway shootout
Drivers pull guns after accident
By Debra Franco/The Gazette
Story editor Valerie Wigglesworth; headline by Barry Noreen
A minor fender bender Thursday night turned into a homicide as two Colorado Springs men involved in the crash pulled their pickup trucks off the road and got out of their vehicles with handguns drawn.
One opened fire; the other fired back.
A man in his 30s was airlifted to Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead of a single gunshot wound shortly after his arrival. The other victim, a 37-year-old man, was in serious and stable condition undergoing surgery at Penrose Hospital. He also suffered a single gunshot wound.
The men's identities were being withheld until family members could be notified.
Law enforcement officials worked late into the night Thursday gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses to determine what happened.
"It's still early in the investigation," said El Paso County Sheriff's Lt. Ken Hilte. "Right now we don't know if we have a vehicular assault or a simple traffic crash that turned into a homicide."
The investigation was further complicated by the expanse of the crime scene: The crash occurred within the city limits while the shooting was in the county. Colorado
Springs police were investigating the crash at Powers Boulevard just south of Stetson Hills Boulevard while sheriff's deputies were handling the homicide on Dublin Boulevard just off Powers Boulevard.
The agencies have different radio frequencies and had difficulty communicating.
Hilte said the crash occurred at about 7:30 p.m. on Powers Boulevard between a red Dodge Dakota pickup and a blue Ford pickup. The drivers continued north at a high rate of speed and turned east onto Dublin Boulevard.
They pulled off to the side of the road, the red pickup in front with the blue pickup only a few feet behind it, witnesses said. Both drivers got out of their vehicles wielding guns and started shooting.
State law permits carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle while traveling, but the law is vague on whether the circumstances in this case required the men to have concealed weapons permits. That issue was still under investigation late Thursday.
Powers Boulevard was shut down to traffic between Stetson Hills and Dublin boulevards while the eastbound lane of Dublin was also closed to motorists for about a mile. Half a dozen orange cones dotted the roadway and a nearby field to mark shell casings from the shooting. Deputies combed the area with flashlights searching for evidence.
Damage to the vehicles appeared minor. The red pickup had its front bumper hanging off at an angle and a cracked headlight while the blue pickup had a small dent in the rear quarter panel on the passenger's side and a cracked tail light.
It was the 16th homicide in El Paso County this year, the third such case for the sheriff's department. The cause of the crash and what triggered the shooting was still
under investigation.
1 killed, 1 injured in roadway shootout
Drivers pull guns after accident
By Debra Franco/The Gazette
Story editor Valerie Wigglesworth; headline by Barry Noreen
A minor fender bender Thursday night turned into a homicide as two Colorado Springs men involved in the crash pulled their pickup trucks off the road and got out of their vehicles with handguns drawn.
One opened fire; the other fired back.
A man in his 30s was airlifted to Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead of a single gunshot wound shortly after his arrival. The other victim, a 37-year-old man, was in serious and stable condition undergoing surgery at Penrose Hospital. He also suffered a single gunshot wound.
The men's identities were being withheld until family members could be notified.
Law enforcement officials worked late into the night Thursday gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses to determine what happened.
"It's still early in the investigation," said El Paso County Sheriff's Lt. Ken Hilte. "Right now we don't know if we have a vehicular assault or a simple traffic crash that turned into a homicide."
The investigation was further complicated by the expanse of the crime scene: The crash occurred within the city limits while the shooting was in the county. Colorado
Springs police were investigating the crash at Powers Boulevard just south of Stetson Hills Boulevard while sheriff's deputies were handling the homicide on Dublin Boulevard just off Powers Boulevard.
The agencies have different radio frequencies and had difficulty communicating.
Hilte said the crash occurred at about 7:30 p.m. on Powers Boulevard between a red Dodge Dakota pickup and a blue Ford pickup. The drivers continued north at a high rate of speed and turned east onto Dublin Boulevard.
They pulled off to the side of the road, the red pickup in front with the blue pickup only a few feet behind it, witnesses said. Both drivers got out of their vehicles wielding guns and started shooting.
State law permits carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle while traveling, but the law is vague on whether the circumstances in this case required the men to have concealed weapons permits. That issue was still under investigation late Thursday.
Powers Boulevard was shut down to traffic between Stetson Hills and Dublin boulevards while the eastbound lane of Dublin was also closed to motorists for about a mile. Half a dozen orange cones dotted the roadway and a nearby field to mark shell casings from the shooting. Deputies combed the area with flashlights searching for evidence.
Damage to the vehicles appeared minor. The red pickup had its front bumper hanging off at an angle and a cracked headlight while the blue pickup had a small dent in the rear quarter panel on the passenger's side and a cracked tail light.
It was the 16th homicide in El Paso County this year, the third such case for the sheriff's department. The cause of the crash and what triggered the shooting was still
under investigation.
Besides, with all the rock haulers we have around here, you can't possibly go over 50mph on a 2-lane black-top!
