COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — More details slowly emerged Tuesday in the Denver suburb of Arvada, where a police officer, a good Samaritan and an alleged gunman died in a shooting in the Olde Town neighborhood a day earlier.
Arvada police identified the officer as Gordon Beesley, a 19-year veteran who was a school resource officer at Oberon Middle School.
Deputy Chief Ed Brady said a gunman fatally shot Beesley before being shot and killing himself. A bystander who was shot and pronounced dead at a hospital was identified by Arvada police as John Hurley, 40, of Golden.
"At this time, we believe this person was shot and killed by the gunman," Brady said.
On Tuesday, a neighbor of the Arvada shooting suspect described what she experienced in her apartment complex Monday.
Workmen were repairing the door of an Arvada apartment off Allison Street Tuesday morning after police knocked it down in a search apparently related to the shooting.
Neighbors were evacuated from their dwellings about four hours after the Olde Town incident, before police in tactical gear stormed the apartment.
One resident of the apartment complex, Soleil Jacquez, said the man who resided in the unit police entered lived alone and barely acknowledged the greetings of neighbors.
"I would say 'Hi', that was it," Jacquez said. She didn't know the man's name.
Meanwhile, a Loveland man says he was yards from from the gunman who opened fire Monday in Olde Town Arvada Square, in the city's downtown district.
Jeremy Wiest was in Arvada looking to buy a car when he saw the horror play out. Wiest said the gunman wore all black, including a tactical vest, and calmly fired a rifle.
"He didn't seem worried about anything," said Wiest, who stared at the gunman as he stood near the body of a man, apparently the fallen policeman, in the street. He said he saw the shooter calmly survey the scene, before Wiest took shelter in a nearby business.
Arvada Mayor Marc Williams said a prayer vigil has been planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Peace Lutheran Church.
Staff and parents from Oberon Middle School met at the square where Beesley died in the shooting and walked the four blocks to Arvada police headquarters where Beelsey's flower-strewn cruiser and police bicycle have become a memorial to the slain officer.
Beesley had talked with Tara Pena, former principal at the middle school, about what they would do if a shooter came to their campus."
"He said, "Don't worry, I'll be the one to chase the bad guy,'" she recalled.
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(The Gazette's Tom Roeder contributed to this story.)
