A Colorado State Patrol trooper was sent to the hospital with minor injuries Saturday following a brief shootout with a suspect along U.S. Highway 36 in Westminster.
Corporal Tye Simcox was parked in the center median of the highway in Westminster in his patrol vehicle Saturday afternoon when a man driving a black pickup truck passed him and began firing a handgun at Simcox, according to CSP Chief Matthew Packard. The man then pulled over to the shoulder, exited the pickup truck, and began firing at the Simcox’s windshield.
Simcox exited his vehicle with his service rifle and shot the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Simcox was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and was discharged later Saturday.
Packard said the suspect’s exact motives are unknown, but it's clear he was “clearly intending to do evil.”
“I will tell you directly today, that our member was targeted today by a man who intended to kill him,” Packard said in a press conference.
CSP closed U.S. Highway 36 temporarily for its investigation. The agency said it will release further details as they become available.
