A man was shot and killed by a La Plata County sheriff’s deputy on Tuesday afternoon after coming at the deputy with an ax handle and baseball bat during a traffic stop for what appeared to be domestic violence, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Multiple people called 911 at around 2:40 p.m. Tuesday about a man and woman who were fighting inside a moving vehicle driving north on U.S. 550 leaving Durango, CBI officials said in a news release Wednesday.
A La Plata County deputy and Durango police officer spotted the vehicle in the 28000 block of U.S. 550, about six miles north of Durango, and pulled the driver over.
A woman got out of the vehicle and ran toward the officers for help and the driver, armed with an ax handle and baseball bat, started moving toward the woman and the deputy, according to the CBI.
The deputy shot the man and, despite medical aid, he died at the scene.
No one else was injured during the encounter, state officials said.
The sheriff’s deputy was put on administrative leave as part of the standard protocol for police shootings, and the CBI is investigating the case along with the Southwest Regional Shoot Team.
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