8th Street shooting victim ID’d killer in ambulance

The 23-year-old victim of a fatal shooting this weekend in Colorado Springs was identified by police, and court documents say he told an officer who shot him before he succumbed to his injuries.

Derrick Lawrence, Jr., was found with multiple gunshot wounds near an intersection at S. 8th Street and Cheyenne Blvd. early Saturday morning, according to an arrest affidavit.

We learned that Cedric Jackson, 19, was arrested for first-degree murder Sunday. According to the affidavit, Lawrence was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital when he told an officer “his friend, Cedric Jackson, was the person who shot him.”

The motive for the shooting remains unknown.

Colorado Springs police responded to a rollover crash that happened at about 5 a.m. near Gold Camp Road, and an officer spotted a red sedan and several SUVs waiting near the crash scene. The cars all sped away, according to an affidavit, and the SUVs “slightly side-swiped” a fire truck as they went past.

The officer noted what the driver of the sedan looked like and tried to chase them down, but they fled at a high speed. Eventually, the officer gave up the chase and went back to the crash scene. At that point, a witness told police that she spotted several men “going through” the crashed vehicle.

The witness also said she heard a gunshot and saw the three vehicles speed away. She said the vehicles came back to the scene, and that’s when they fled from the police, according to the affidavit.

Shortly before 6 a.m., CSPD got a call for the shooting victim and found Lawrence, Jr.

Based on Lawrence’s identification of the shooter, police looked through criminal records and found Jackson’s picture. The officer involved in the chase recognized him as the driver of the red sedan with near 90 percent certainty.

At this point, the other people allegedly involved haven’t been identified.

Jackson has been booked into custody.