LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Lakewood police say a suspect died after being taken to a hospital Thursday morning after he opened fire on SWAT officers and police from an apartment balcony, prompting police to return fire.
The incident happened at the Waterfront Apartments near W. Jewell Avenue and S. Kipling Parkway early Thursday morning.
Lindsay Jones, an agent with the Lakewood Police Department, said agents were dispatched to the apartments after receiving a call about a menacing person around 2:48 a.m. Thursday at the Carmel Waterfront apartments.
When they arrived, the reporting party said a man had been throwing rocks at his door. He told police when he went outside, the man was armed with a gun, so he went back into his apartment and called police.
Jones said police don't believe they knew each other.
The man eventually barricaded himself inside an apartment. Police were able to contact the man, but he opened the door with a gun in his hand so the police retreated, Jones said. He also allegedly made threats to kill any officer who entered the apartment, according to the police department. Officers then started phone negotiations with the suspect. When he refused to come out, police notified the West Metro SWAT Team, Jones said.
Negotiations continued for a few more hours, but the man did not come out of the apartment, police said.
Just before 6 a.m., the man walked onto the apartment's balcony and fired shots at the SWAT officers and police with what officers described as a sawed-off shotgun. A Lakewood SWAT officer fired one round at the suspect, who later died from the injury.
Lakewood police said the suspected shotgun was later found to be an airsoft shotgun.
Police did not name the suspect on Thursday afternoon but said he was a 35-year-old white male. He was later identified as Steven Ross Glass, a resident of Lakewood.
The Jefferson County Critical Incident Response Team will investigate the shooting. The officer involved has been placed on standard administrative leave.