The man officials say opened fire on three Colorado deputies who were serving an eviction notice had sued the governor and others after losing a court battle over his home’s foreclosure.
Advertisement
The violence happened at a hillside home in the town of Bailey, about 45 miles southwest of Denver.
The shooting occurred around 9:30 a.m.at the home of 58-year-old Martin Wirth on 36 Iris Drive, at the secluded Friendship Ranch Subdivision in Colorado. After officers followed him in the house, Wirth turned and shot at them, the sheriff’s office said in a statement reported by the newspaper.
A Fort Collins police officer then arrived at the scene of the shooting and ordered Wirth out of his home trailer.
The deputy seriously wounded, Kolby Martin, is an 11-year veteran and the other, Capt. Mark Hancock, is a 21-year vet, authorities said. He was treated and released.
Corporal Nate Carrigan, who had served on the Park County Sheriff’s force for 13 years, was one of three officers serving the notice to Martin Wirth at his Bailey home, when they were fired upon, the Washington Post reported.
“We’re ingrained in the community”, Wegener said of the sheriff’s office. The alleged shooter, who was killed by police, has also been identified.
Martin Wirth had multiple run-ins with police prior to the shooting and was even arrested at one point for his alleged role in the murder of one man over a game of chess.
The shootout shocked the community of Bailey, where the slain deputy, Cpl.
“Sheriff Wegener would like to thank the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, the Colorado State Patrol, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Fairplay Police Department, the Alma Police Department, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for their assistance on this dark day”.
“They live with us and they’re friends and neighbors, and any time there’s a loss, it a loss for all of us”, resident Allison Henry said.
Wegener said the deputies went to Wirth’s residence on “a high-risk eviction based upon prior law enforcement contacts” with Wirth. According to the Washington Post, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says this “dramatically” outpaces the number of officer deaths at the same point in 2015.
A website by a group called the Colorado Foreclosure Resistance Coalition includes undated posts that say Wirth had lost a legal fight against foreclosure and was facing eviction.
The Colorado Foreclosure Resistance Coalition, an organization aligned with the Occupy movement, said it helped Wirth with his foreclosure struggles.
Wirth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Colorado legislature in 2014 on the Green Party ticket.
There was no further information on the exact nature of the incident, though Balough said the deputies “had a reason to be where they were”. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit last September.
Dan Spykstra, who knew Carrigan, Hancock and the shooter, said the deputies coached his son in football, calling Carrigan “always very supportive and wise beyond his years, a really good kid”.
Advertisement
There, a gunman took several girls hostage in a high school classroom a decade ago, killing one before himself.
