COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Witnesses have 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.
Betty Barker told KOAA-TV News5 she saw the gunman approach a young man on a bike and shoot him several times. Several people in the neighborhood said they were horrified to see the man's body, lying face down, still on his bike, still wearing his backpack.
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."
