COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Witnesses on Sunday described a terrifying scene on the streets of Colorado Springs, where a gunman armed with a rifle marched down a city street and shot and killed three people before being fatally shot in a gunbattle with police.
Authorities have released few details about Saturday afternoon’s shooting in broad daylight. The suspect and victims have not been identified, and police are looking for a motive.
A neighbor, Teresa Willingham, said she and her 7-year-old son heard three loud gunshots and saw a bicyclist lying face down in the street, his legs mangled and still intertwined in his bike.
“His last words were ‘Please God, no,'” she said. “He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
A neighbor, Naomi Bettis, who lives across the street, said she saw a man in a green jacket with a rifle, walking down the street. She saw him go into a house across the street, and come out with a handgun. She said the man headed down block, and a bicyclist came up.
Bettis said the bicyclist begged for his life, but the gunman kept shooting.
Bettis said the bicyclist collapsed outside a house. She later placed a bouquet of flowers, a candle and a note where the bicyclist was slain, saying “My thoughts are with you. Praying for the family. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Matt Abshire, 21, told the Colorado Springs Gazette he looked outside his apartment window and saw a man shoot someone with a rifle.
Abshire said after the first shooting he ran to the street and followed the man and called police.
The man suddenly turned and fired more shots, hitting two women, Abshire said.
Abshire told The Gazette he rushed to help, but that one of the victims was already dead, shot in the chest. The other woman was shot in the face. Police confirmed Saturday afternoon that both were killed.
Abshire said the man kept walking, carrying the rifle.
Police say they spotted the gunman several blocks away, where a shootout erupted. Photos show a window in the back of a police car that had been shattered by gunfire. Police on Sunday asked residents to help them look for damage to homes and property that might provide more evidence.
Alisha Jaynes told KKTV-TV 11 News she was at an ATM when she saw a man with a gun walking calmly down the street.
“They yelled, ‘Put the gun down,’ and he turned around, and that’s when they shot at him a good 20 times,” she said. “There was a lot of gunfire.”
