Police Kill Suspect in Recruit's Shooting

Cops Say Brother Escapes and Remains on the Loose

Nov. 17,1999 

By Keith Coffman

THORNTON, Colo. (APBnews.com)- One of two brothers suspected in 
the Halloween shooting of a police recruit was shot and killed by 
officers after he tried to run them over with a stolen police car.

Thornton police spokesman Mall Barnes said Daniel Lopez 111, 28,
was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds Tuesday night 
after being airlifted to a Denver hospital.

The shooting took place after officers from three different police
agencies converged on the fugitive and trapped him on a dead-end
street, according to Barnes. 

Armed and dangerous 

"Mr. Lopez attempted to drive over one officer, and when fired
on swerved at another officer," Barnes told APBnews.com. 

Barnes said that although there was "no indication" that Lopez fired on
officers, police retrieved a semiautomatic pistol from the stolen car. 
He added that Lopez was known to be armed and dangerous. 

Lopez, along with his brother, Dustin Lopez, 19, were wanted in 
connection with the Oct.31 wounding of Kris Deroehn, a police recruit
from nearby Lakewood. Deroebn suffered minor leg wounds after being 
shot, allegedly by one of the brothers, when he stopped the two to 
run a check on a stolen car they were in. 

The chase is on

Barnes said police is this suburb north of Denver had a house under 
surveillance after the Arapahoe County sheriff's fugitive unit, which
tracks the 50 most-wanted suspected criminals in the Denver 
metropolitan area, were tipped that the Lopez brothers were there.

Officers were waiting for a warrant to enter the house and arrest the 
brothers when four people - two unidentified women and two men who 
matched descriptions of the Lopez brothers -- emerged from the home
and drove off in a car, police said. 

"While officers were trying to stop the car, the vehicle left the roadway
and all the occupants got out and ran in different directions," Barnes 
said.

Police said Lopez then led officers on a foot chase, but circled back and
drove off in one of the fugitive unit's car. Detectives from Arapahoe 
County, Thornton police and SWAT officers from neighboring Northglenn
took off in pursuit of the stolen car and cornered Daniel Lopez in the 
dead end where the fatal confrontation took place.


How many shots fired? 

Four officers --two Thornton police, one SWAT officer and an Arapahoe
County deputy --discharged their weapons during the incident, Barnes
said, but it's not known yet how many bullets fired by law enforcement
struck Lopez. 

Police believe Dustin Lopez was the other man at the house, but he
eluded capture and is still on the loose. The two women were detained
at the scene and are being treated as "victims and witnesses," 
according to Barnes.

The officers who fired their weapons are all on paid administrative leave 
pending an investigation into the shooting by the Adams County Critical
Incident Team, he added. Barnes said his department usually identifies 
officers involved in shootings, but the names are being withheld because 
Dustin Lopez is still at-large and has a history of violent encounters
with law enforcement.

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