HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (AP) - The Latest on a sheriff’s deputy shot in and killed in suburban Denver (all times local):
2:10 p.m.
The commander of a Colorado sheriff’s deputy killed by a man with a history of mental health problems says the deputy tried to calmly help the gunman before being shot.
Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock spoke Friday at the funeral of 29-year-old Zackari Parrish in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch.
Relaying what he heard on audio from body camera footage, Spurlock said Parrish pleaded with the gunman to let him help. Spurlock said he never heard anyone deal with such a situation more calmly.
Parrish and three other deputies were shot after being called to the home of Matthew Riehl, an Army veteran and former Wyoming lawyer, for the second time early New Year’s Eve.
Parrish’s funeral drew law enforcement officers from around Colorado and other states and followed a large procession on Interstate 25. People, some holding American flags, lined up to watch.
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12:45 p.m.
The FBI says a 72-hour mental health hold that was once issued for the man who fatally shot a Colorado deputy probably didn’t make it illegal for him to buy guns.
FBI spokesman Stephen G. Fischer Jr. said Friday the mental health hold issued in 2014 for Matthew Riehl was likely just to keep him under observation.
Federally licensed dealers cannot sell guns to people if a court or another authority has determined they’re a danger to themselves or others. People who’ve been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution are also ineligible.
Nothing made public about Riehl so far appears to meet those standards.
A Veterans Affairs Department document and police reports say Riehl, an Army veteran, had mental health problems.
Police killed Riehl after he fatally wounded Deputy Zackari Parrish Sunday. Parrish’s funeral service was held Friday.
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10:10 a.m.
A Colorado sheriff’s deputy shot and killed by a man whose mental health problems previously raised alarms is being laid to rest.
A long motorcade of law enforcement officers from around Colorado and beyond on Friday escorted the hearse carrying the body of 29-year-old Zackari Parrish to a church in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch for his funeral. The procession along Interstate 25 was led by about 80 officers on motorcycles and ended with bagpipers and drummers escorting the hearse to Cherry Hills Community Church.
Along the way, saluting firefighters stood atop a firetruck and others watched on overpasses and along local streets. In two spots, large American flags were hung from ladder trucks.
Thirty-seven-year-old Matthew Riehl, a veteran and former Wyoming lawyer, fired on Parrish and three other deputies who responded to a 911 call he made from his apartment early New Year’s Eve. He was later killed by a SWAT team in a gunfight that also wounded an officer.
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8:55 a.m.
Law enforcement officers from around Colorado are escorting the body of a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed in suburban Denver on Sunday to his funeral.
Saluting firefighters stood on top of a firetruck and others watched on overpasses along Interstate 25 Friday as dozens of officers on motorcycles and in cruisers passed on Interstate 25 south of the city. A large American flag hung from two ladder trucks on one of the bridges during the procession for 29-year-old Zackari Parrish.
Thirty-seven-year-old Matthew Riehl, a veteran and former lawyer in Wyoming, fired on Parrish and three other deputies who responded to a 911 call he made from his apartment early on New Year’s Eve. He was later killed by a SWAT team in a gunfight that also wounded an officer.
Parrish leaves a wife and two young daughters.
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8:10 a.m.
Funeral services are being held for a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed in suburban Denver by a man whose mental health problems had previously raised alarms.
Law enforcement officers from around Colorado are scheduled to join a motorcade taking the body of 29-year-old Zackari Parrish to Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, not far from the apartment complex where he was shot and killed Sunday.
Thirty-seven-year-old Matthew Riehl, a veteran and former lawyer in Wyoming, fired on Parrish and three other deputies who responded to his 911 call. He was later killed by a SWAT team in a gunfight that also wounded an officer.
Parrish leaves a wife and two young daughters.
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