A Thursday afternoon call about a suicidal woman in Longmont ended in deadly gunfire after a tense standoff that unfolded in a residential garage on the 1500 block of East Third Avenue, authorities say.
According to police, Longmont Public Safety officers first responded to the home after a report of a suicidal person. They say the woman fired a gun inside her garage and later came out holding a firearm, at which point an officer shot her. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The department is treating the incident as an officer-involved shooting, and the officer who fired has been placed on administrative leave.
As reported by the Denver Gazette, officers were dispatched at about 4:15 p.m. after a caller reported a suicidal woman at the home. The Gazette reports that officers spoke with her, then began to leave, when she discharged a firearm inside her garage. That gunshot brought officers back in, and they attempted to re-establish contact.
Investigation and administrative leave
Longmont Public Safety says the officer who fired has been placed on administrative leave while an external investigation gets underway. City officials say sidelining involved officers during such probes is standard department policy.
Per the City of Longmont, the police department itself will not take part in the deadly-force investigation. Instead, the case has been handed to the 20th Judicial District’s multi-agency critical-incident team and a Boulder County response team, according to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.
Timeline and witness tips
Police established a heavy presence at the home at around 5:15 p.m., and officials issued a BOCOAlert shelter-in-place order for nearby residents that was later lifted.
Investigators are now asking anyone who saw what happened to call the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 303-441-3674 and reference Longmont police report #26-3498. The Boulder County Coroner’s Office will publicly release the woman’s identity after notifying family and completing an autopsy, authorities said, as reported by the Denver Gazette.
What to expect next
Critical-incident investigations typically involve processing the scene, ballistics and other forensic testing, plus detailed interviews with officers, witnesses and anyone else with relevant information. The results are then turned over to prosecutors for review before any charging decision is made.
Under the Boulder County District Attorney’s current setup, the critical-incident response team presents its findings to prosecutors, who review the case. Longmont’s prior public notices on officer-involved incidents show those reviews can sometimes take weeks.
Officials say more details will be released after the investigative teams and the coroner finish their work. In the meantime, they are urging anyone with video, photos or additional information to contact investigators.
