Nevada Flats residents still shaken after police shooting sends two to hospital
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - It's been a long, sleepless night for many staying at the Nevada Flats Hotel.
Half an hour before Thursday night turned into Friday morning, several shots from a police issued firearm rang out on South Nevada Avenue.
The Colorado Springs Police Department says they were called out to the area around 11:30 p.m. after a resident reported a burglary that may have involved a weapon.
After officers arrived on scene, while they were trying to contact the person who had reported the burglary to 911, three people exited an apartment. According to CSPD, one of them, a man, raised a rifle toward an officer.
The police department says that one officer then fired multiple shots, striking the two individuals who were standing in "close proximity" to the armed man, an adult man and an adult woman. As of Friday, Nov. 14, police were working to identify whether the two people who were shot are suspects themselves. They are still investigating their exact involvement.
Police say the armed man was taken into custody, while the two injured parties were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
KRDO13 Investigates spoke to several people staying at the Nevada Flats. One man who'd been there for around six months said he heard six to eight shots while he was lying down in bed. He didn't see the shooting but saw two carried away on stretchers. In his time staying here, he'd never seen anything like this.
"One of the bullets literally passed right where I was standing. I could have been there, and I could be in the hospital right now. And I'm the one that called," said Cody Flahive, another resident of the Nevada Flats.
Flahive told KRDO13 Investigates that he called police after a masked man attempted to break into his home, where he was staying with his partner and young child. Flahive said the break-in wasn't random, but related to an earlier incident.
Earlier that night, around 9 o'clock, Flahive said he was taking a smoke break outside after getting home from volunteering at the sober living house. While outside, he says he intervened in a confrontation between a man and a woman. Flahive said he believes it was that man who came back and tried to break into his room with a weapon, but it's not clear if that person is tied to the shooting.
That's when Flahive says he called the police. He says he was coming out of his room when he saw the officer approach the man holding a weapon and found himself unexpectedly in the line of fire.
Thankfully, Flahive and his family were unharmed, but still are scared.
In accordance with state law, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is now leading an investigation into the officer-involved shooting. Within 21 days, CSPD will release a significant event briefing video that includes body-worn camera footage of the scene.
Sheriff's Office confirmed to KRDO13 Investigates that they are looking into the connection between the fight and the shooting.
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