An off-duty Boulder City, Colo., police officer was forced to draw his firearm and shoot a man who was assaulting his wife. According to local reports, 9-1-1 dispatchers heard sounds of fighting and a woman warning that her husband was armed. Shots were heard fired shortly after. When officers arrived, they discovered a 45-year-old man with apparent gunshot wounds. The police officer involved in the incident was in the front yard of the residence. Reports say the off-duty officer heard what turned out to be a domestic dispute from a neighbor's backyard, as he witnessed the now-deceased man slam a woman to the ground and punch her in the face.
The officer told the suspect's wife to call emergency dispatch while he intervened in the assault. After separating the suspect from the victim, she found safe cover with the officer's wife. The calm was short-lived, however, as the officer was followed by the antagonized suspect when he attempted to return to the suspect’s house. The situation turned into a closeup physical altercation between the men. When the suspect allegedly encircled his arm around the officer’s neck and slammed his head into a vehicle, the officer’s wife retrieved her own firearm from inside their home. Meanwhile the officer had broken free and drew his firearm, identifying himself as a police officer and ordering the suspect to get on the ground. Unfortunately the man ignored the multiple commands and advanced toward the victim—his own wife—prompting the office and the officer's wife to discharge their firearms, striking the man and fatally wounding him.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. The abused wife reportedly received medical attention for multiple lacerations, facial swelling and strangulation marks. (news3lv.com)
