Shooter ambushes deputies in Colorado, killing one

UPDATE: A dean at the Wyoming College of Law warned students in early November about the mental state of Colorado shooter Matthew Riehl, a former student who posted social media rants about professors at the school in Laramie, Wyo., a Casper, Wyo., radio station reported. Assistant College of Law Dean Lindsay Hoyt told students to notify campus police if they saw Riehl or his car near campus. School security officers called police in Lone Tree, Colo., in mid-November to warn of Riehl’s online activity, suggesting his actions were indicative of mental illness, UW Police Chief Mike Samp told The Denver Post. Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Zackari Parrish was killed in the shooting. Hundreds gathered Monday night for a candlelight vigil for Parrish at Mission Hills Church in Littleton, Colo., the church he attended with his wife and two young daughters. All of the wounded except Deputy Jeff Pelle, 32, have been treated at hospitals and released.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (1/01/18, 9:58 a.m.): Law enforcement authorities in a Denver suburb are investigating why a 37-year-old man fired more than 100 rounds in his apartment on sheriff deputies Sunday, killing one and wounding four others, including a local police officer. The Douglas County coroner identified the suspect as Matthew Riehl, who was well known to authorities but did not have a criminal record. In a YouTube video posted on Dec. 13, a man named Matthew Riehl railed against Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock and other officers using profane, highly personal language. The shooting occurred at 5:15 a.m. at an apartment complex in Highland Ranch, Colo., south of Denver. Officers had visited the man’s apartment an hour earlier in response to a complaint of a “verbal disturbance” involving two men. When deputies were called back, a man who had left the apartment gave them a key and permission to enter the premises. Spurlock said deputies were shot “very, very quickly” after entering the premises and trying to talk with the suspect, who was holed up inside a bedroom. “They all went down almost within seconds of each other, so it was more of an ambush-type of attack on our officers,” Spurlock said. A SWAT team later entered the apartment and killed Riehl. The three deputies and one police officer wounded were listed in stable condition Monday morning. Two civilians were also injured but their condition was not life threatening.