Update: The Adams County coroner has identified the man shot to death by police in the incident outlined below as Daven Hannu, 51. Continue to see our previous coverage.
Original post, 5:36 a.m. March 23: The inclement weather currently pounding the Denver metro area isn't ideal when it comes to investigating an officer-involved shooting in which one man died.
But that's precisely what's happening at this hour.
Late last night, cops with the Thornton Police Department gunned down a thus-far-unnamed individual.
He first came to an officer's attention for the simplest of reasons: He was driving past midnight without his headlamps illuminated.
But the situation escalated in an enormous way after the man is said to have fired a shotgun at the cop in question.
The suspect was killed minutes later.
According to the TPD, ground zero for the incident was the RTD parking lot at 8703 North Grant Street. The area is captured in the following interactive graphic; if you have problems seeing the image, click "View on Google Maps."
At around 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday, March 23, the officer saw a vehicle without its lights on turn into the lot.
Shortly thereafter, the officer "approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver," the TPD account maintains.
This interaction isn't characterized. But when the officer returned to his cruiser, the man allegedly emerged from his ride with a shotgun — and used it on the officer.
The Thornton cop was injured by the blast but was able to return fire and even give chase after the suspect hopped back into his car and took off.
He didn't get far.
On the 8600 block of Grant Street, the suspect stopped his car and stepped outside.
The wounded officer, joined by two other cops, say that the man then began to advance in their direction with the shotgun in hand.
Gunfire was exchanged, and the suspect took the worst of it. None of the officers were hit, but the man went down and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shortly thereafter, media began arriving on the scene, including Fox31/CW2 reporter Greg Nieto, whose twitpic vividly captures the conditions.
The Thornton police officer shot by the man is described as a thirty-year veteran of law enforcement.Thornton Officer Involved shooting, near 86th/Grant. Suspect dead. Portion of Grant closed.@ch2daybreak @GoodDayCO pic.twitter.com/kGnXL3IAmU
— Gregory Nieto (@greg_nieto) March 23, 2016
He is receiving treatment at a local hospital for multiple wounds.
His condition was listed as stable as of 4:30 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Adams County Critical Incident Team is on the scene — and an unpleasant scene it is, as captured in this tweeted image from 7News' Daryl Orr.
The dead man will be named after next-of-kin notification.Weather is complicating shooting scene at 86th and Grant St in Thornton as the rain has turned to snow. pic.twitter.com/YcL6bqmBJV
— Daryl Orr (@WxTrackerDaryl) March 23, 2016
No other suspects are being sought.
In the meantime, anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Thornton Police Department tip line at 720-977-5069.
