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Colorado Gunman Live-Streamed Shooting Of Sheriff Deputies
"There were well over 100 rounds fired," reported a sheriff.
Matthew Riehl, a veteren who served in Iraq, instigated a deadly skirmish against police in Colorado on New Year's Eve. Now, video of Riehl's attack has been found circulating online.
According to CNN, Riehl had retreated into his apartment in Denver and had opened fire on police responding to a noise complaint.
"One male said the suspect was acting bizarre and might be having a mental breakdown," before the shooting, read a police report.
One deputy was also killed in the shootout; five officers and two civilians were injured. A tactical unit ultimately took down Riehl.
"There were well over 100 rounds fired," said Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock. "All went down within almost seconds of each other, so it was more of an ambush type of attack on our officers."
"I couldn't believe this was happening in our backyard," said neighbor Vira Cover.
Riehl had previously served in the Wyoming National Guard and the Army Reserve. He was deployed in Iraq in 2009 and was honorably discharged in 2012. He had no criminal history prior to this incident.
Months before, Riehl had previously been seen posting "rambling, nonsensical messages on his Facebook page," according to documents obtained by the University of Wyoming, putting them on high alert.
“Wyoming statutes are pretty clear: If someone is not making an immediate threat, they cannot be held for a mental evaluation. They are very tough cases,” said UW Police Chief Mike Samp of the posts.
In the video of the incident, Riehl can be heard begging police to “leave me alone” amidst the sounds of gunfire.
The New York Daily News characterizes killers sharing video of their deeds on the internet as "a disturbing trend," noting that Cleveland murderer Steven Stephens had uploaded videos of his killings last year as well. Stephens' disturbing video had remained on Facebook for around two hours before being taken down.
"We have a lot of work, and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the matter at the time. "Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr."
[Photo: Twitter @dcsheriff]
