A Park County shooting in Colorado left a sheriff's deputy dead along with the resident targeted in a "high-risk eviction" involving seven other deputies, according to
KUSA-TV.
The eight deputies arrived in Bailey, about 45 miles southwest of Denver, to serve what was called a high-risk eviction notice to Martin Wirth, 58, who had been involved in a long eviction dispute over the property.
Authorities told KUSA-TV that Wirth fired at officers as they followed him inside the residence after Wirth initially appeared on his deck. Wirth was shot and killed at the scene.
Deputy Nate Carrigan, a 13-year veteran of the department, was killed in the exchange of gunfire while Deputy Kolby Martin was shot multiple times and had to be transported to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Lakewood by helicopter, reported
KCNC-TV. Capt. Mark Hancock was sent to St. Anthony Central by ambulance after a bullet grazed his ear.
Wirth, 58, was identified by the
Denver Post as an Occupy Denver activist and former Green Party candidate for Colorado Senate. The newspaper said that Wirth had previously complained about what he thought was police harassment.
According to property records, Wirth had defaulted on the property in 2013 and had been fighting foreclosure and eviction since, said the Post.
"We are sorry to share that Martin Wirth, so long active working to end fraudulent foreclosures and evictions, is reported to have died in a shootout with police this morning in Bailey Colorado," said the
Occupy Denver Facebook page on Wednesday.
The Colorado Fraternal Order of Police told KUSA-TV that 14 officers have been shot in the state over the past three months.
"He served his country in a superior way, and made the ultimate sacrifice today," Colorado Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Susan Medina told KCNC-TV of Carrigan. "It's a tragic day. A Park County Deputy lost his life today."
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