Following a “active shooter” situation at a “packed” Colorado entertainment facility, police killed an armed guy and arrested a woman. Two individuals were hospitalized with injuries.
The shooting took place at Main Event in Highlands Ranch on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 11:51 p.m. local time, according to a news release issued on Facebook by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
After receiving a call reporting a “active shooter” at the establishment — a center that advertises “family-friendly fun” such as arcade games, bowling, and eating — a deputy arrived on the scene in “less than a minute,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said in a press conference following the shooting.
The deputy arrived and “encountered a male in the parking lot armed with a gun,” according to the DCSO. After failing to obey “several commands” to lower the weapon, “the male then turned toward the deputy, at which point the deputy fired his weapon and hit the male.”
Officers at the site “attempted life-saving measures,” but the individual was “pronounced deceased shortly thereafter,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies subsequently found a female victim who had been wounded in the chest and with a foot wound inside Main Event, where they later discovered that a shooting had occurred “involving two females,” according to Weekly.
According to authorities, the female victim was hospitalized with another individual who had a non-life-threatening medical condition.
Following the DCSO’s first inquiry, the female who shot the injured woman was recognized as the shooter and is currently in police custody, according to Weekly. Police have yet to identify the armed gentleman or the lady thought to be the shooter.
It is unclear whether the armed person murdered outside was directly tied to the shooting inside the establishment, according to the sheriff, who told reporters, “That’s still under investigation at this point, but we do believe there was a connection there.”
The DCSO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, February 9.
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Weekly also stated during the press conference that “multiple rounds” were fired inside the establishment, which was “packed” with people at the time of the incident.
“There were a lot of patrons still here when the shots rang out,” he claimed, calling it a “very dangerous situation” that could have been “much worse.”
“Obviously, you have a large entertainment center like Main Event here, you have shots being fired inside,” according to Weekly News. “Fortunately, we had a deputy sheriff who was close by, and unfortunately he had to take a life, but a very dangerous, chaotic scene and we still have a lot to work through, but this could have been a lot worse.”
