Officials: Cops shoot, kill man wielding machete at University of Colorado

BOULDER -- A man armed with a machete was shot and killed by police at the University of Colorado after officials say he refused to drop the weapon.

The incident happened Wednesday at the sports complex on the Boulder campus.

Campus police spokesman Scott Pribble said the man brandished the knife in a menacing way during an altercation with another person in the parking lot of the Champions Center and then went inside a building.

Pribble said police directed the man to put the weapon down and, when he refused, he was shot.

“He was directed to put the weapon down and refused and it’s believed, in the interest of public safety, that he was shot,” Pribble told CBS Denver.

Campus police tweeted Wednesday morning that the man was in the Champion Center on campus near Folsom Field and had a machete. The university sent text alerts to all students, faculty and staffers warning them about the man and telling them to take protective action.

About 10 minutes later, campus police tweeted an all-clear message.

The suspect has not been identified.