Deputies, suspect in Hobby Lobby shooting identified
KRDO NewsChannel 13 has confirmed the identities of a man who was shot in a Colorado Springs Hobby Lobby and the deputies who were involved in the shooting.
The store where the shooting happened is on South Eighth Street.
The man who was shot is identified as Brian Lowe, 48, of Colorado Springs. The deputies are Sgt. Shane Mitchell and Deputy Keith Duda.
Officials with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Mitchell and Duda were following up on a tip that a suspect who was wanted for felony escape from the Colorado Department of Corrections was at the store.
Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs Police Department said she believes Lowe escaped from a halfway house on Las Vegas Street not far from the county jail. Court records show that on April 21, Lowe was charged with felony escape.
The Sheriff’s Office said that when the suspect, identified as Lowe, was contacted by the deputies at 5:57 p.m., he was immediately uncooperative. They said there was a physical struggle and Lowe pulled a knife. The Sheriff’s Office said that’s when Mitchell shot Lowe.
Lowe is receiving medical treatment under guard at Memorial Hospital and is expected to survive, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Colorado Springs police said Lowe faces two counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection with the Hobby Lobby incident.
Mitchell has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1997 and has been the supervisor of the Crime Reduction Unit since 2014. Duda has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2009 and has been with the Crime Reduction Unit since 2011.
Both deputies were placed on routine paid administrative leave following the shooting and have since been cleared to return to duty.
However, Sheriff Bill Elder said the investigation of whether the deputies acted properly is not over.
“We need to make a clear distinction that there’s a difference between being cleared to go back to work, and being cleared from any other issue with regards to the District Attorney’s Office,” Elder said. “It’ll take them a while to make that determination.”
Elder said he feels confident that the deputies won’t be held at fault in the shooting.
Court records show that Lowe has a long criminal history dating to 1990 with arrests for armed robbery, auto theft, assault, escape, drug possession, vehicular eluding and resisting arrest. He pleaded guilty to or was convicted on several crimes and served an unspecified amount of time in prison.
Lowe also was wanted for parole violation.
The Department of Corrections did not return a call Wednesday from KRDO NewsChannel 13 requesting more information about Lowe’s background.
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Previous report:
Colorado Springs police say an El Paso County sheriff’s deputy shot a man inside a southwest side hobby store Friday evening.
The shooting happened around 6 p.m. at the Hobby Lobby in the 500 block of South 8th Street.
Police say the unidentified man, 48, remained hospitalized Monday. They say he was wielding a knife when he was shot. No one else was hit.
Police say the man was wanted for a parole violation and escape.
Friday night, a source close to the investigation told KRDO NewsChannel 13 that the incident involved two deputies who were conducting fugitive apprehension when the shooting happened. The source says the deputies were in soft marked uniforms, black long sleeved T-shirts with “sheriff” on the sleeves and back. Our source says that neither deputy was injured.
An El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman could not confirm how many deputies were involved. She said any deputy involved in the incident would be placed on routine paid administrative leave.
One witness said they heard six shots. Another reported hearing three.
“We were maybe 15 feet from the rear exit, as the alarm sounded we heard multiple shots,” said witness Jeremiah Boone.
Yet another witness told KRDO NewsChannel 13 that employees herded shoppers out the back door when the shooting began.
“I had seen a gentleman with a long coat toward the front of the store,” said witness Rita Weiss. “As soon as I heard the sounds of the gun, I had a feeling it was pretty close.”
Police said the soonest they would release more information would be Saturday.
