On May 8, 2015, at approximately 5:57 PM, Sergeant Shane Mitchell and Deputy Keith Duda were at the Hobby Lobby store, 525 S. 8th Street, following up on a tip that a suspect was there who was wanted on felony escape charges from Colorado Department of Corrections.

When the suspect was contacted he was immediately uncooperative.  A physical struggle ensued and the suspect pulled a knife; the suspect was subsequently shot by Sergeant Mitchell.  The suspect was taken to Memorial Hospital and is expected to survive.  Sergeant Mitchell and Deputy Duda were uninjured.  The Colorado Spring Police Department is conducting the shooting investigation.

Sergeant Shane Mitchell has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1997 and has been the supervisor of the Crime Reduction Unit since 2014.  Deputy Keith Duda has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2009, and has been with the Crime Reduction Unit since 2011.  Both Sergeant Mitchell and Deputy Duda have been cleared to return to duty.

The Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) is an impact team that supports the Law Enforcement and Detention operations of the Sheriff’s Office. The CRU consists of a sergeant and six deputies who work a constantly-changing schedule to meet the needs of the Office and the community.

CRU deputies regularly work interactively with officers and agents from a number of local and federal agencies including the ATF, FBI, U.S. Marshal’s Service, U.S. Postal Inspectors, local police departments as well as many others. Additionally, CRU deputies work tips and leads received from a number of sources, including Crime Stoppers, anonymous calls, requests from other agencies, information shared by other deputies and more.

The photos of Sergeant Shane Mitchell and Deputy Keith Duda are attached to this media release.