A deputy and a tow truck driver came under gunfire Wednesday near Rocky Ridge Road in Custer County, triggering a five-mile shelter-in-place order and a tense, hours-long standoff that ended only after law enforcement pumped gas into the home where the suspect had barricaded himself. No one was hit by the gunfire, and the suspect eventually surrendered peacefully.
The episode started small. Around 9:45 a.m., Custer County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to what was initially described as a low-priority call about a vehicle left on Rocky Ridge Road, according to Heart of the Rockies Radio. The road sits northwest of Westcliffe near Bear Peak, as reported by the Colorado Springs Gazette. What looked like a routine welfare or obstruction check soon escalated dramatically.
A tow truck arrived at the scene shortly before 11:30 a.m., and that is when gunfire broke out, per KDVR. Neither the responding deputy nor the tow truck driver was struck, the station reported, even as the suspect holed up inside a nearby two-story home and kept firing shots throughout the afternoon.
Five-Mile Order Locks Down the Area
The Custer County Sheriff's Office issued a shelter-in-place order covering a five-mile radius around Rocky Ridge Road as the standoff unfolded, the same KDVR report noted. By mid-afternoon, the scene was described as contained, though negotiators continued working toward a peaceful resolution rather than a forced end. The station's report described it as contained but not secured even as talks continued.
Around 3:30 p.m., authorities said the situation had stabilized enough to call it contained while crisis negotiators kept talking with the man inside, according to Heart of the Rockies Radio. Local schools were not placed on lockdown, but the afternoon bus route serving the Oak Creek Grade area was canceled as a precaution, per the same outlet's affiliated coverage.
Agencies From Across the Region Respond
What began as a single sheriff's office call quickly drew help from well beyond Custer County. The Colorado State Patrol, the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Marshals Service and Pueblo County Sheriff's Office personnel were prepared to respond, according to Heart of the Rockies Radio's reporting carried by the same outlet's sister coverage.
The standoff stretched for roughly six hours before it ended. Around 6 p.m., the sheriff said gas was introduced into the home, limiting the suspect's actions, after which he surrendered peacefully, Heart of the Rockies Radio reported. Accounts differ slightly on the exact timing of what followed: Heart of the Rockies Radio reported the suspect was in custody and the shelter-in-place order lifted at 6:11 p.m., while a separate report put the arrest at 6:20 p.m. and confirmed that no one was injured.
Suspect Identified, Held on Multiple Charges
Sheriff Rich Smith identified the suspect as 49-year-old James Adams, according to KKTV, as reported by Heart of the Rockies Radio. Adams was transported to the Fremont County Jail on multiple charges, though the exact counts against him were not released, the same report noted.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, officials had not released further details about what prompted the gunfire or the full sequence of events, the Gazette reported. The sheriff's office has a history with this stretch of road: in November 2023, deputies and other agencies responded to a separate high-risk situation in the vicinity of Rocky Ridge Road, when residents were also asked to shelter in place and motorists were told to avoid the area, according to the Cañon City Daily Record. That earlier incident similarly triggered Everbridge emergency alerts for the surrounding community.
