Suspect killed in Northern Colorado rollover crash and police shooting identified

The suspect who allegedly shot a police officer Sunday in Northern Colorado before being shot and killed by police has been identified.

Fort Collins police responded to a single-vehicle rollover crash around 12:40 p.m. near Mountain Avenue and Bryan Avenue. When officers arrived, a man -- later identified as 42-year-old Clayton Pierce -- was standing outside his car with a gun, the police department said in a news release Monday.

Pierce shot at police, striking one officer who has not yet been identified, according to the department. Officers shot back but Pierce ran into Grandview Cemetery. Officers found him in the cemetery, where Pierce again exchanged gunfire with police. A SWAT team arrived and officers rendered medical aid to Pierce who was then taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries.

Police did not say if Pierce was struck during the initial gunfight or in the cemetery or what kind of firearm he had, but investigators say Pierce had several firearms on him.

The officer who was struck has since been released from the hospital and is recovering, the department said.

Several parked cars were struck by gunfire in the shooting. Police don't believe anyone else was in the car with Pierce when it crashed, but said he did have two dogs with him. One was located but the other -- a pit bull -- was not found.

Now the Eighth Judicial Critical Incident Response Team and Larimer County Sheriff's Office are investigating the shooting.

Court Records show Pierce had a lengthy criminal history going back at least two decades, almost entirely across Larimer County.

The more serious convictions include a 2006 conviction for aggressive driving on a revoked license, a 2007 conviction of possessing a weapon as a previous offender, a 2011 incident where he was charged with kidnapping, felony menacing and drug distribution -- for which he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the drug charge -- and a 2020 DUI and vehicular alluding conviction, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison.

In 2020, he was called "Larimer County's most wanted," by the sheriff's office, as he was wanted on a felony warrant at the time on the DUI and vehicular alluding chares.