Posted in Related Deaths3-10-2011 Colorado:
A registry violation, a ministerial violation. I begin to wonder, if once an arrest seems to go awry, and they are ready for a SWAT Team, do they have any negotiator type person to at least try to end a situation without further violence. Unfortunately the articles do not have a timeline to know whether a negotiator could have ended it. The facts here are missing something, this is not the usual way this occurs. I know this, there is a little girl who will grow up fatherless, and one day will be asking WHY? Will police or lawmakers be able to answer her?
LIMON, Colo. — The shooting death of a police officer on Colorado's eastern plains left his community grieving Thursday as state and local police investigated a standoff that also ended with a suspect dead inside a mobile home.
Limon officer Jay Sheridan, 27, was killed Wednesday by gunfire that erupted when police tried to serve a fugitive warrant to a man at a mobile home park in the town 70 miles east of Denver, Colorado State Trooper Heather Cobler said.
Sheridan had been a six-year veteran on the Limon police force, and his death marked the first time an officer had been killed in the line of duty in the community of about 1,800, said police chief Lynn Yowell.
"It's hit all of us very hard," Yowell said. "It's a loss that's cut deep within the community."
U.S. marshals identified the suspect as Dennis Mark Hasty, 52, who was wanted on a sex offender registry violation from Tennessee's Roane County.
Officers said they found Hasty's body after a four-hour standoff, and that he apparently shot himself.
In a statement, the U.S. Marshals Service said Thursday that authorities in Colorado's Lincoln County were notified late Wednesday that Hasty was believed to be in the area. The Tennessee Sexual Offender Registry listed Hasty as having a 1990 conviction for incest.
Tennessee officials could not immediately provide additional information.
Jim Hartwig, manager of the mobile home park, told The Denver Post the man had been living in a trailer with a woman since November. Hartwig said the man possessed a .25 caliber handgun and other guns.
Two other officers, who were not identified, were trapped in a separate room of the home during the standoff. Neither was hurt. As many as 20 mobile home park residents were evacuated during the standoff.
Chief Yowell said the department has five officers on its police force. Yowell told the Post that Sheridan was the father of a 1-year-old girl and he had just started a goat ranch.
Resident Josh Wiedemann said he heard "a pop and a whiz" and that when he went outside, a police officer with a shotgun told him to move away.
"The U.S. Marshals Service is deeply saddened at the tragic loss of Officer Jay Sheridan of the Limon Police Department," said Colorado U.S. Marshal John Kammerzell. "The Marshals Service stands together with our fellow law enforcement partners during this time of mourning." ..Source.. by ajc.com
Suspect In Limon Police Shooting Convicted Of Incest
3-10-2011 COlorado:
Dennis Marc Hasty Wanted On Sex Offender Registry Violation; Limon Police Officer Jay Sheridan Dies;
LIMON, Colo. -- The man who police say shot and killed a Limon police officer before shooting and killing himself was wanted for repeatedly failing to register as a sex offender.
Dennis Mark Hasty, 52, was convicted in 1993 for incest in Knox County, Tennessee. According to his criminal record, the violation occurred on Nov. 30, 1990.
When he was released on probation, he failed to register as a sex offender and went back to prison for another term in February 2001, according to court records.
In 1996, he was charged with aggravated rape of an 8-year-old girl but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, according to Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee.
He was supposed to register as a sex offender after he was released a second time, but the last time he was on the registry was in August 2007 in Texas, according to officials.
In January 2008, deputies with the Roane County Sheriff's Office went to a home where Hasty was staying to conduct a welfare check. Before officers could talk to him, he ran out the back door, the U.S. Marshal's Service said. Inside the house were two runaway teenage girls, according to the Sentinel.
While Hasty was a convicted felon, and on the run for some time, sources told 7NEWS that there was no indication he might come out shooting if approached by local police officer.
Dennis Hasty Vowed Somebody Was Going To Die, Manager Says
Hasty had vowed that somebody was going to die and that he was never going to jail, according to the manager of the trailer home park where he lived.
The manager of the Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park said Hasty rented the trailer as Mark Hasting. The manager, who only wanted to be identified as "J," said he had not idea Hasty was a wanted fugitive.
Hasty apparently told residents that he was an ordained minister, but the manager said there were signs something was wrong.
He said, before Wednesday night's standoff, it was chaos in Hasty's trailer home. J said he knows because he lives next door.
"I wasn't really surprised because he had said before that if the cops ever came banging on his door that somebody was going to die and he was never going to jail," J said.
J said when officers showed up to pick up Hasty on Wednesday night, he told officers that Hasty owned several guns and was a dangerous person. J said he offered to knock on the door and get Hasty for them, so that they could avoid a confrontation, but J said the officers said they had it under control.
He said he heard the shooting around 6:10 p.m.
"I heard three gunshots and officers started screaming, 'Man down!'" J said. "(There were) two small caliber guns and the really big caliber gun."
Police said Hasty shot and killed Limon Officer Jay Sheridan while he was in the hallway. Sheridan was there to pick up Hasty on a out-of-state fugitive warrant.
When Hasty opened fire, two other officers with Sheridan ran for cover inside a separate part of the home and remained there for their own safety, police said.
Those officers were initially thought to be hostages, but Hasty had barricaded himself in one room of the mobile home, and the officers had just ended up in a separate part of the mobile home.
At 10:40 p.m., SWAT officers swarmed into the mobile home and knocked down one wall.
"I believe that's where they penetrated the house and put the grenade in," said J, pointing to a hole in the outside wall of the house.
Hasty was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the bedroom, Limon police said.
Jay Sheridan Was Father To 21-Month Old
Wiping away tears during a Thursday morning news conference, Limon Police Chief Lynn Yowell said Sheridan was a great officer.
Yowell said he wasn't going to speak about the investigation but would speak as the family spokesman.
Sheridan, 27, was born and raised in Simla. He was a husband and the father of a 21-month-old girl.
That girl was Sheridan's pride and joy, Yowell said.
The girl was wondering why everyone was in their house Thursday morning, Yowell said, and it was heartbreaking.
Sheridan was 21 when he joined the Limon Police Department and was with the police department for 6½ years. He said Sheridan was a jokester who was always having fun, but when he put on a uniform, he buckled down and went to work.
"He wore his uniform with a lot of pride ... sorry (choking back tears), and a lot of respect. And is going to be sorely sorely missed," Yowell said. "When he came to work and he put on the uniform, he came to do the job."
He attended Northeastern Junior College in Sterling and was going to major in auto mechanics. However, he attended a law enforcement academy and decided to pursue a career as a police officer.
Sheridan is survived by his parents, who still live in Simla, his wife and daughter in Limon and a brother and sister in Fort Collins.
"Jay was a really good guy. If you needed anybody to talk to or if you needed something to do, he would be there to help you," said Sheridan's friend, Brandon Soderstrom.
Sheridan's death was one of only five officers on the Limon police force and his death has dealt a big blow to the community. The other Limon police officers have taken a leave of absence, although they were still wearing their uniforms Thursday in honor of Sheridan.
Deputies from neighboring Morgan County stepped up to secure the scene and take to relieve the officers who were on duty all Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
"They've suffered a tragic loss, and they need some time to realize what's happened here and to deal with that," said Dave Morgan with the Morgan County Sheriff's Department. "It's a tough thing. It's something that ripples through the law enforcement community. We're down here to provide support. We're giving them law enforcement services for Lincoln County as well as Limon PD."
Yowell said Sheridan was like a son to him.
"Not only was Jay an employee of mine, a colleague of mine, but he was also a dear friend of mine," Yowell said.
The shooting is being investigated by the 18th Judicial District Critical Response Team. ..Source.. by Kim Nguyen, Web Editor
