Archer confirmed some details of initial accounts about what happened, as shared with us earlier today by a DPD spokesperson — but other elements have shifted.
She noted that the carjacking took place just before midnight in Littleton, and the victim told investigators that four people were involved: two women and two men.
A short time later, officers with the Littleton Police Department spotted the vehicle near Arapahoe Community College — but only the women were inside it. Archer said she didn't know what happened to the men in between the carjacking and the first sighting by law enforcement.
Police vehicles at the scene of the shooting.
Denver7 via @WxTrackerDaryl
According to Archer, multiple PIT [Pursuit Intervention Technique] maneuvers were tried in an attempt to bring the suspect vehicle to a halt, and one was finally successful near the intersection of Louisiana and Bannock. Shortly thereafter, gunfire erupted, killing one of the women and critically injuring the other.
No police officers were shot, and Archer didn't have information about whether any of their vehicles sustained damage. Neither could she say if officers from both the Littleton and Englewood departments fired shots or hit their targets.
Earlier accounts had suggested that there had been an exchange of bullets, with the suspects possibly shooting first. Archer stressed that she couldn't confirm whether this happened or not. Likewise, she didn't know if the women had been armed or had a weapon in close proximity when they were felled.
Santa Fe Drive reopened shortly before the 11:15 a.m. news conference began, and traffic in the area is finally getting back to normal. But investigators with the Denver Police Department, who are conducting the shooting investigation, have a lot of questions yet to answer in an incident that has already resulted in one death, with the life of another suspect hanging in the balance.
