COLORADO SPRINGS — The El Paso County Combined Courts building on Tejon St in Colorado Springs is closed for the day as police investigate a shooting in front of the complex.
CSPD Spokesperson Ira Cronin says a call came in at 10:03 a.m. for the shooting in front of the courthouse. Officers arriving on the scene found one person deceased outside the courthouse.
“When we arrived on scene we found one person deceased with what appears to be a gunshot wound,” Cronin said.
Police believe this is an isolated incident. Cronin said it was not an “active shooting situation.” The names of the deceased will be released by the El Paso County Coroner.
The Colorado Springs Police Department says a suspect is in custody, however, the identity of the suspect has not been released at this time. Cronin said police are handling this as a homicide investigation.
In a news release, the Colorado Springs Police Department revealed there was a previous relationship between the shooter and the victim. The details of that relationship were not made available at this time.
Witnesses told News5 it was a very scary situation for many people in the area.
“Actually it was pretty scary because we weren't quite sure if the active shooter was inside the building. We didn't know pretty much where he was, we just saw sheriff's running around, they looked kind of frantic,” Tinsley said.
Brandon Tinsley was inside and on the third floor of the courthouse when the incident happened.
“The sheriff came to us when we were at the elevator and told us we could not leave,” Tinsley said.
He said he had to stay inside the courthouse for about 15 minutes. Then they were escorted out of the building.
“Two more Sheriffs came up and said they were escorting us out through the south side,” Tinsley said.
Anyone in the building after the shooting was released using the south entrance to protect the investigation scene.
Tejon St was closed in front of the courthouse between Colorado Avenue and Vermijo Street until about 3:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon before being reopened.
Dylon Nugent was downtown when the shooting happened.
“It was a normal morning, and then all of a sudden, it was shocking,” Nugent said.
Colorado Springs used to be Dylon Nugent's home. She now lives in Ireland and is back in Colorado this week to visit her sister.
“Well this morning I came downtown to see how downtown has changed,” Nugent said. “I went into a couple of shops for maybe about ten minutes and when I came back there was police tape on my car,” Nugent said.
She said the police responded very quickly, but she was very shocked this had happened.
“I am back here for a visit and I lived in the Springs for two years and it is like oh my God I'm in the middle of a shooting, oh my God,” Nugent said.
Firefighters were able to get to the scene within a few minutes to check for patients. CSFD spokesperson Ashley Franco says firefighters assisted 2 patients with very minor injuries.
“We had about 20 CSFD personal responded to this scene, as many of your known engines and trucks are just right down the street so we had a one minute response for them,” Franco said.
According to the Colorado Judicial Branch, the courthouse will reopen at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. Anyone who has a hearing scheduled for Thursday should call 719-452-5000 to get it rescheduled.
If you have any information regarding the suspect or vehicle, please call the CSPD at 719-444-7000; or if you wish to remain anonymous, you may call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (719) 634-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-8477.
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