Colorado Springs police ordered residents in a stretch of the city to shelter in place just before 3 p.m. Friday, telling people to lock their doors and stay put while officers responded to activity in the area. The order covered the area from Constitution Avenue to Inspiration Drive, between Lavarie Drive and Rio Vista Drive, and police said the situation was still developing.
According to KOAA News 5, the Colorado Springs Police Department issued the order because of police activity in the area, though the department did not immediately detail the nature of that activity. Residents within the boundaries were instructed to secure their homes or businesses, stay away from doors and windows, and shelter in a safe place until further notice.
Police said residents would receive an alert once the order was lifted, according to the same report. As of Friday afternoon, the situation remained active and unresolved, with no additional details released about what prompted the lockdown or how long it might last.
A Separate Police Shooting Reported Friday Morning
Hours earlier on the same day, a separate police incident unfolded elsewhere in Colorado Springs. Per kdvr.com, officers responded around 8:15 a.m. Friday to a call about a suspicious person making threats to shoot a woman in her vehicle near the 300 block of Shadow Ridge Grove.
During a struggle, at least one officer fired at least one shot, striking the suspect, the outlet reported. The suspect was hospitalized in serious but stable condition, and police said no community members or officers were hurt in the shooting near Austin Bluffs Parkway and Shadow Ridge Grove. Police added that there was no continued known immediate danger in the area, and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office was set to investigate the shooting under Colorado law, as is standard procedure.
The two incidents involved different locations within the city.
Pattern Of Lockdowns Across Colorado Springs
Friday's order was not the city's first shelter-in-place directive in recent months. Just a day earlier, a man reported with a rifle near North Nevada Avenue and East Fillmore Street surrendered after police deployed chemical agents. In a separate incident, a shelter-in-place order was issued near North Nevada Avenue and I-25 while negotiators worked to resolve a standoff; the person in that incident surrendered without incident.
Other recent incidents followed a similar pattern. In August, kktv.com reported that police ordered a shelter-in-place at 8:26 p.m. for the area from Brady Boulevard to Constitution Avenue, between Downing Drive and Cadillac Avenue, due to law enforcement activity; that order was lifted roughly 17 minutes later after a suspect surrendered. A separate standoff in June also ended with a suspect surrendering peacefully and the shelter-in-place order being lifted, according to a kktv.com video report.
As of Friday afternoon, Colorado Springs police had not said when the latest order affecting the Constitution Avenue and Inspiration Drive area would be lifted. Residents in the affected zone were told to wait for an alert confirming the all-clear.
