Suspect in domestic violence case dies after being shot by Commerce City police officers following 5-hour standoff in Colorado

The Commerce City Police Department said a suspect in a domestic violence case was dead after a nearly five-hour standoff involving CCPD patrol officers, the combined Commerce City and Brighton SWAT team and other surrounding agencies.

According to police, two arrest warrants were issued for a 29-year-old man wanted for a brutal domestic violence attack that occurred earlier that day.

When officers arrived, the man barricaded himself inside a home in the 6700 block of East 72nd Avenue around 2 p.m. after allegedly attacking a woman. The attack was so severe that she had to be taken to the hospital, according to the CCPD.

The suspect also held a maintenance worker hostage inside the house while barricading himself and refusing to come out. The suspect was also reportedly armed with a knife and at least one handgun.

Joanna Small of the Commerce City Police Department described the moments before officers shot the suspect and how they attempted to negotiate.

“He threatened several times that he had the technology to blow up a small apartment complex. He threatened several times to shoot police officers,” she recalled. “So it was a very tense and volatile situation.”

According to CCPD, the maintenance worker managed to escape shortly after the standoff began because, even after hours of discussions with the department’s trained negotiators, the suspect continued to refuse to obey officers’ orders and repeatedly threatened to shoot police.

Eventually, the suspect was shot by police and given medical attention, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to CCPD.

The identity of the suspect will be released by the Adams County Coroner’s Office, while an external investigation by the 17th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team will be immediately initiated.