On October 22, 2021, at around 8:41 PM, the Sheriff's Office Dispatch received numerous 911 calls from citizens reporting multiple gun shots having just been fired in the 600 block of Empress Circle in unincorporated El Paso County.
Members of the Sheriff's Office Patrol Division, Tactical Support Unit, and K9 Unit responded to the scene. Unfortunately, the suspect vehicle was gone by the time units arrived. Numerous shell casings were recovered on scene as well as home video surveillance that recorded the incident. Although there was damage to structures and property in the area as a result of this gunfire, thankfully no one was injured.
A few hours later, just before 1:00 AM on October 23, deputies located a vehicle similar to what was depicted in the surveillance video in the area of Main Street and Leta Drive in the Security/Widefield area. Deputies discovered the vehicle was reported stolen by the Colorado Springs Police Department. The vehicle drove away and a pursuit was not initiated.
A short time later the occupied vehicle was spotted again by deputies at a gas station in the 2000 block of B Street. Deputies used their marked patrol cars to block the suspect vehicle's forward and rearward movement. The driver of the vehicle rammed one of these marked patrol cars while a deputy driver was inside but was unable to maneuver away. This deputy was not injured.
Four persons from inside the suspect vehicle fled on foot. Numerous deputies pursued and captured all of them. One suspect violently resisted deputies' effort to arrest him, spitting on and attempting to head butt them. Fortunately, none of the suspects nor any deputies were injured. One person arrested was an adult man and the other three arrested were juveniles. A handgun was also recovered on scene.
Investigative assistance was immediately requested to an EPSO deputy serving as an ATF task force officer assigned to the Armed Violent Offender Unit, as other recent shots fired and violent crimes may be related to these suspects.
This is an ongoing, multi-agency investigation. As such, information on the arrests made as detailed above, a description of the suspect vehicle that was contacted and seized, and the other specific incidences that may be related will not be released at this time.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office remains committed to diligently pursuing justice for our citizens, mitigating crime in our communities, and working in consort with our regional and national law enforcement partners to accomplish these goals.
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