A man killed by a responding police officer at a crime scene had, in fact, shot a gunman who killed a different Colorado police officer, police confirmed.
Johnny Hurley, who took down 59-year-old Ronald Troyke after Troyke ambushed 19-year Arvada Police Department veteran Gordon Beesley on Monday, was holding the suspect’s rifle when a responding officer shot him, police, who hail Hurley as a “hero,” said on Friday.
“Johnny’s actions can only be described as decisive, courageous, and effective at stopping further loss of life,” Arvada Police Chief Link Strate said in a video statement.
“It is clear that Mr. Hurley intervened in an active shooting that unfolded quickly in a busy commercial area in the middle of the day, and he did so without hesitation,” Strate added.
OVER 40% INCREASE IN KILLED POLICE OFFICERS SO FAR IN 2021
Police also released moment-by-moment details of the shooting incident, which left Hurley, Troyke, and Beesley dead.
Troyke’s brother called police just before 1 p.m. local time last Monday, asking them to perform a welfare check out of fear that his brother was going to “do something crazy,” according to the account provided by police.
Beesley and another officer responded to the call but were unable to make contact with Troyke at his residence, police said.
Beesley then responded to a report of a suspicious person in Arvada’s Olde Town Square downtown district when Troyke parked his truck, got out with a shotgun, and ran after the officer, shooting him twice, and Beesley took no defensive action against the assault, police continued.
After shooting the windows out of multiple patrol cars, Troyke returned to his truck to retrieve an AR-15, and he subsequently returned with his rifle to the square, where Hurley confronted and shot him with a handgun, the police’s statement continued.
Another responding officer then shot Hurley, whom the officer encountered holding Troyke’s rifle, police said.
Video footage released by police shows the moment the suspect apparently pulls his truck into a parking space behind Beesley, shoots the officer, and then returns to the truck for the rifle.
Investigators say they found a handwritten note composed by Troyke that said, “My goal today is to kill Arvada PD officers.”
“This is what you get, you are the people who are expendable,” the note allegedly said, as well as, “Hundreds of you pigs should be killed daily.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Community members gathered on Saturday in Olde Town Arvada, which is less than 10 miles from downtown Denver, to remember Hurley.
“In that moment, he just springs up without question, and he is just the hero,” one of Hurley’s friends said at the vigil.
District Attorney Alexis King directed a multiagency Critical Incident Response Team investigation into Hurley’s death, police said, while the Arvada Police Department is investigating Beesley’s death.
