PUEBLO, CO - Three police officers with the Pueblo Police Department (PPD) are recovering in the hospital after being shot at by a suspect on Tuesday night, March 18th.
According to KKTV, the suspect has been identified as Billy Soto. He was fatally struck when police returned fire. The shooting happened around 7:00 p.m. in the area of Mesa and Cedar, near Bessemer Park. On Wednesday, March 19th, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
PPD said that Soto had a long criminal history and was wanted for attempted murder before he opened fire on the officers. Police were trying to serve a warrant to Soto when he first fired at the officers. During a press conference on Wednesday, PPD Chief Chris Noeller expressed his discontent with Colorado's legislation.
He said, "Instead of holding low-level offenders responsible, the state of Colorado has adopted the open windows theory of law enforcement where we hold no one accountable. Our victims suffer, our communities suffer, and our police officers suffer." He said he believes this incident should be a wake-up call, adding that the "soft on crime" legislation causes people who live in cities like Pueblo to suffer.
He said, "The blood of my officers lays at the steps of our Capitol and the reckless, soft-on-crime legislation passed out of there, and I'm tired of the needless violence our officers and our community face because of these policies." He specifically pointed out Soto's criminal history that "spans pages."
He said that Soto had 14 felony arrests, and many of those were pleaded to misdemeanors. He said Soto was also a self-admitted MS-13 gang member. Noeller said, "When we refuse, as a state, to hold low-level criminals accountable, they became emboldened. Violent crime goes up and incident like this are result."
While police said the three officers are in stable condition, they have a long road to recovery. Mayor of Pueblo Heather Graham said, "As a community, we should be outraged, and we deserve better. Our police officers deserve better." According to reports, Noeller said Soto was armed with a rifle, and was eventually shot by officers who returned fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a February 21st Pueblo Crimestoppers web posting, Soto was featured as a wanted criminal. He was listed as having skipped out on a $13,000 bond, and being wanted on three felony failure-to-appear warrants. He was listed in connection to crimes including motor vehicle theft, resisting arrest, possessing a deadly weapon, and drug possession, including possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute.
Governor Jared Polis said in a statement, "Our men and women in uniform work every day on the front lines, and put themselves in harm's way to protect our lives and communities. Pueblo is a strong community, especially in tough times like this I am closely monitoring this situation and getting regular updates, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is actively supporting the investigation with support from State Patrol.
I applaud the actions of everyone involved in stopping the violent suspect, and am praying for the three officers who were injured in this attack."
According to KKTV, the suspect has been identified as Billy Soto. He was fatally struck when police returned fire. The shooting happened around 7:00 p.m. in the area of Mesa and Cedar, near Bessemer Park. On Wednesday, March 19th, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
PPD said that Soto had a long criminal history and was wanted for attempted murder before he opened fire on the officers. Police were trying to serve a warrant to Soto when he first fired at the officers. During a press conference on Wednesday, PPD Chief Chris Noeller expressed his discontent with Colorado's legislation.
He said, "Instead of holding low-level offenders responsible, the state of Colorado has adopted the open windows theory of law enforcement where we hold no one accountable. Our victims suffer, our communities suffer, and our police officers suffer." He said he believes this incident should be a wake-up call, adding that the "soft on crime" legislation causes people who live in cities like Pueblo to suffer.
He said, "The blood of my officers lays at the steps of our Capitol and the reckless, soft-on-crime legislation passed out of there, and I'm tired of the needless violence our officers and our community face because of these policies." He specifically pointed out Soto's criminal history that "spans pages."
He said that Soto had 14 felony arrests, and many of those were pleaded to misdemeanors. He said Soto was also a self-admitted MS-13 gang member. Noeller said, "When we refuse, as a state, to hold low-level criminals accountable, they became emboldened. Violent crime goes up and incident like this are result."
While police said the three officers are in stable condition, they have a long road to recovery. Mayor of Pueblo Heather Graham said, "As a community, we should be outraged, and we deserve better. Our police officers deserve better." According to reports, Noeller said Soto was armed with a rifle, and was eventually shot by officers who returned fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a February 21st Pueblo Crimestoppers web posting, Soto was featured as a wanted criminal. He was listed as having skipped out on a $13,000 bond, and being wanted on three felony failure-to-appear warrants. He was listed in connection to crimes including motor vehicle theft, resisting arrest, possessing a deadly weapon, and drug possession, including possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute.
Governor Jared Polis said in a statement, "Our men and women in uniform work every day on the front lines, and put themselves in harm's way to protect our lives and communities. Pueblo is a strong community, especially in tough times like this I am closely monitoring this situation and getting regular updates, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is actively supporting the investigation with support from State Patrol.
I applaud the actions of everyone involved in stopping the violent suspect, and am praying for the three officers who were injured in this attack."
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Comments
2 days ago | Comment by: James
Colorado is a screw up state! Holding ANY and ALL Federal funding until these dumbasses get this fixed!!!