Deputy, gunman slain in Colorado eviction

According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Susan Medina, the suspect opened fire with a rifle when the deputies approached. A bomb squad was called in to inspect the home.

A sheriff’s deputy was killed and two others were wounded during a shootout Wednesday morning in Park County, Colo., officials said.

“May he rest in peace and never be forgotten”, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said. It is unclear if the gunman took his own life of if he was killed by the deputies return fire.

A witness at the crime scene said, “Marty told him: ‘Why don’t you go back to California, you gangster.’ Then he shot him, twice”, The same witness added, “Marty was standing over him with his gun”.

The officers fired back, killing the gunman, officials said.

The Park County Sheriff’s Office deputies were shot at about 9:30 a.m., while attempting to serve an eviction notice, according to officials.

The officers were anticipating a hard eviction and came under fire as they arrived at the home.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation stepped in to assist, allowing the Park County sheriff to be at the hospital with his deputies and their families.

“But the Federal National Mortgage Association and its agents committed at least one felony and it was entered into the court records of both the State FED case and the federal case in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado”, Wirth wrote on the site. The third deputy who was shot suffered non-life threatening injuries. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit last September.

A website by a group called the Colorado Foreclosure Resistance Coalition includes undated posts that say Wirth had lost a legal fight against foreclosure and was facing eviction.

It wasn’t immediately clear, though, what circumstances led to the shooting or why the suspect was wanted. The website lists his name and address and called for others to join Wirth in “nonviolent eviction resistance”. The letter said the planned event was “a NON-VIOLENT FORECLOSURE RESISTANCE ACTION to support Mr. Wirth and our constitutional rights”, another Denver Channel story reports.

Medina said she didn’t know whether investigators were looking for other suspects, but emphasized that area residents are not in danger.