Blanca authorities, residents reflect Thursday on close call with active shooter suspect

COSTILLA COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- In this town of 400 just east of Alamosa, people have a new sensitivity regarding the recent mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs.

And for good reason.

A man who appeared to be a stranger walking suspiciously through town Wednesday afternoon, ended up using two assault rifles and a handgun to shoot at law enforcement responders and even shoot down a drone used to track him.

Ricardo Haro, 21, is now in jail on felony charges of attempted murder, attempted assault, menacing, reckless endangerment and prohibited use of a weapon.

So far, authorities have found at least 17 spent shell casings as part of the evidence in their continuing investigation, and said that Haro's motive is unknown.

"We think he's originally from Georgia, moved to Denver and then bought some property here," said Blanca Police Chief Ricky Rodriguez. "We think he has a prior record of battery in Atlanta. We don't know how long he's been here or if he was living here."

Blanca police, Costilla County Sheriff's deputies, state troopers and even the Alamosa police SWAT team responded to reports of a man firing a gun at around 2 p.m. near the intersection of Main Street (also U.S. 160) and County Road 12 (also Airport Road) on the west end of town.

"We probably had 20 people out there," Rodriguez said. "It was fairly close to a school, a lumber yard and some homes and businesses."

According to the arrest document, Haro appeared to be shooting randomly but then pointed and shot toward two officers who ordered him to surrender.

"They all indicated that they could hear bullets whizzing by them," the document states.

Authorities said that they formed a perimeter around Haro, and they eventually convinced him to lie down and surrender without further incident.

"As you're on your way out there, all these images flash through your mind about the Club Q shooting and what could happen," Rodriguez said. "But we had plenty of room to work with, and we had time on our side. We say that our motto is to serve and protect. That means to protect the suspect as well, and avoid hurting him, if we can."

The ordeal forced the issuance of social media and Reverse 911 alerts for residents to shelter in place, and closed the highway in both directions; the incident ended at around 4 p.m.

Luisa Sena, owner of Lu's Main Street Cafe -- just a few blocks east of the scene -- was one of the few who saw Haro prior to his confrontation with law enforcement.

“I saw him walking across the street, just carrying a bunch of stuff," she explained. But I didn’t know it was guns."

Sena said that she wasn't afraid.

"I would have tried to feed him, see if he was angry and tried to calm him down. If he had a gun pointed at somebody -- personally no, I would not have tried to take him down. I have a big knife and a big rolling pin, but if he’s got a gun, no.”

Ever the dedicated businesswoman, Sena said that she locked her doors during the incident but remained open if customers wanted to come in and eat.

"Business was down (Wednesday) evening and was down again (Thursday)," she said. "There's no insurance to cover that."

Sena also said that most residents have Internet service and learned of the shelter-in-place order on social media, but she didn't know about it at work until a customer told her.

"I should have known something was going on because there was no highway traffic," she said.

Rodriguez said that some residents may not realize that Reverse 911 works through landline phones, and that they have to register to extend the service to smartphones.

"I'd like to see that change and become standard for all phones," he said.