Domestic violence suspect dead after being shot by Commerce City police officers following 5-hour stand-off in Colorado

The Commerce City Police Department says a domestic violence suspect is dead after a nearly five-hour standoff that involved CCPD patrol officers, the combined Commerce City/Brighton SWAT Team, and other surrounding agencies.

According to the police department, two warrants were issued to a 29-year-old man who was wanted for a violent domestic violence assault that occurred earlier in the day. 

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

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

Joanna Small with the Commerce City Police Department recounted the moments before the suspect was shot by officers and how they attempted to negotiate.

"He was making numerous threats about having the technology to blow up what's essentially like a little apartment complex. Multiple times he threaten to shoot police officers," she recalled. "So, it was a very tense and fluid situation."

CCPD says the maintenance worker managed to escape shortly after the stand-off began as the suspect still refused orders from officers and repeatedly threatened to shoot police even after hours of speaking with the department's trained negotiators. 

Eventually, the suspect was shot by officers and medical aid was rendered but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to CCPD. 

The suspects identity will be released by the Adams County Coroner's Office while an outside investigation by the 17th Judicial District's Critical Incident Response Team will immediately begin.