Fatal Colorado Ambush: 'He Knew We Were Coming':

One deputy was fatally shot almost immediately in Highlands Ranch
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 31, 2017 2:54 PM CST
Fatal Colorado Ambush: 'He Knew We Were Coming':
David Morgan of Highlands Ranch, Colo., holds an American flag as a procession of law enforcement vehicles accompany a hearse carrying the body of a sheriff's deputy.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Police in suburban Denver are describing the fatal shooting of a deputy and the wounding of four other officers as an ambush. “He knew we were coming,” says Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock, per the Denver Post. The sheriff says four deputies initially arrived at the gunman's apartment complex in Highlands Ranch to answer a domestic disturbance call, and all four were shot almost immediately. “They all went down, almost within seconds of each other,” said Spurlock, adding that the gunman fired at least 100 rounds. Deputy Zackari Parrish, 29, has been identified as the slain deputy. He is survived by a wife and two children and had been a deputy only seven months. The gunman also was killed, and two civilians were injured. All of those wounded were expected to survive.

"His wife told me today that he loved this job more than he had loved any job he ever had," the sheriff said of Parrish, per the AP. The shooting caught the attention of President Trump, who tweeted, "My deepest condolences to the victims of the terrible shooting in Douglas County @dcsheriff, and their families. We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all!" Authorities haven't provided specifics as to why the deputies were called to the residence in the first place. The sheriff said the shooter did not appear to have a criminal history but was well known to police. (More Colorado stories.)

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