The Broomfield Police Department’s Public Information Officer Rachel Haslett conducted a ten-minute press briefing just after 2:30 p.m. regarding the officer-involved shooting that occurred outside A Precious Child in the 7000 block of W. 118th Avenue in Broomfield.
Haslett said that someone inside A Precious Child, a nonprofit organization that serves children and caregivers and provides access to educational and extracurricular opportunities, called 911 at 9:08 a.m. to report that someone in the parking lot outside the building was threatening to hurt themselves.
The Broomfield Police Department responded within two minutes of the call and located the individual in distress. When the officers began speaking with the individual, they realized that he was armed with a gun. The Broomfield Co-Response Team (BCORE), crisis negotiators, and officers attempted to resolve the situation with the individual peacefully, but after several hours, the individual was shot at 12:50 p.m. and pronounced dead at the scene. No officers have been reported injured.
More than one officer fired their weapon, Haslett said. Medical attention was provided to the individual, but he was pronounced deceased. The Broomfield Police Department was the only department involved in the situation.
Haslett said that information regarding the individual’s identity and connection to A Precious Child is not available at this time. She said that the roads surrounding the organization, Teller Street and West 118th Avenue, will remain closed “for some time” as the investigation continues. The individual is still deceased on the scene.
Haslett said that due to department policy, the officers who fired their weapons have been placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation is complete. Investigators will investigate the scene of the incident and “hundreds of hours” of body camera footage from the incident (as every individual in the department at the scene was wearing a body camera) to determine how many shots were fired, which officers were involved, and any additional information about the situation.
The Broomfield and Adams County Coroners will work to identify the individual, Haslett said.
A Precious Child and a few other businesses in the area were placed in “secure mode,” which means that the building is locked and there was no threat inside the building. Haslett said that no one in the buildings was ever in any danger.
There were around 50 people inside A Precious Child at the time of the incident, Haslett said, including seven children. An officer entered the building and evacuated the children out the back door and reunited them with their parents.
The “secure mode” has been lifted from all businesses but the investigation is still ongoing.
