DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — New video footage was released by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in the deadly shooting of an armed suspect by deputies on Saturday night.
A 911 caller told dispatch a man was carrying an AK-47 on the ramp off Interstate 25 onto Happy Canyon Road. The caller told police the man pointed the weapon at him.
When the first deputy arrived to the location, 23-year-old Samuel Yeager was carrying a weapon in a soft rifle case. The weapon was later identified as an AK-47, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said.
Yeager walked over to the northbound on-ramp of Happy Canyon Road and I-25 with his hand in the rifle case, Spurlock said. Yeager was repeatedly instructed to put his weapon down. He dropped to the ground, removed his gun from the case and began firing rounds at deputies, according to Spurlock.
In the video, deputies yell to take cover when Yeager begins firing. “Deputies returned fire and, unfortunately, killed the suspect at the scene,” Spurlock said.
The deputies involved were put on administrative leave, as per department policy.