Colorado State trooper shot in traffic stop
May 8, 2003
In a crime horrifyingly reminiscent of an officer shooting five years ago, a Colorado State trooper was shot three times while performing a traffic stop near the Ute Mountain Casino in Towaoc Thursday afternoon. The trooper's identity has not been confirmed.
According to a witness at the scene, the trooper was shot three times in the chest, side and wrist with a large-caliber handgun. Spent .45-caliber cartridges reportedly were recovered at the scene. The trooper was taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez, and reportedly was conscious and breathing during the trip.
State troopers and personnel from area police and sheriff's departments were searching the area southwest of Cortez for a gray or silver Buick, possibly a 1992 Skylark, that may have been displaying Texas plates. Both a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft had been called in to search from the air.
Initial reports were that the suspect remained in the area; however, by an hour after the shooting, a trucker had reported seeing a similar vehicle speeding north from Teec Nos Pos, Ariz., and officers conceded that the vehicle might have eluded the Cortez-area containment measures. Searchers reportedly were seeking a white male with brown hair.
On May 29, 1998, Cortez Patrol Officer Dale Claxton was shot to death, and another CPD officer and a Montezuma County Sheriff's deputy were wounded, by three suspects attempting to flee in a stolen water truck. Two of the suspects were found dead, one in the next few days and one months later. The third remains at large.
http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/news030508_8.htm Thankyou for posting that. You are a gem!!