Officer-involved shooting in Parker

UPDATE: The original version of this article said that the suspect was in custody. Although this was true at the time, the suspect is now deceased.

3:31pm– Parker Police Chief Rod Mendoza confirmed that a CRIT Police officer shot a suspect near 19th Street and Mohave Avenue in Parker after the suspect was reported to be brandishing a hand gun.

Parker High School was placed on lockdown for a short time out of an abundance of caution while police ensured no other suspects were involved, Mendoza says. Ultimately no others were involved and the threat was neutralized with no further incident.

At no time were the students of any area school believed to be in danger and school is out now, Mendoza confirmed. The suspect was believed to be a tribal member.

Mendoza says he was distraught along with the rest of the country by the tragedy in Connecticut last week, and anticipated the concern of the residents about the safety of their children:

“I would like to reassure the community that our schools are safe and law enforcement agencies are well trained and positioned to protect our students. Our school district has procedures and safety guidelines in place working closely with law enforcement. The Parker police department will continue to work with the other public safety entities, teachers, administrators and community members to mitigate school violence to keep our children safe.”

UPDATE: The incident is reported to have been involving domestic violence.