ARVADA, Colo. (KDVR) — Police have released excerpts from a letter written by the man who shot and killed a police officer in Olde Town Arvada on Monday.
According to APD, the incident started at 12:49 p.m. when the shooter’s brother called for a welfare check on his brother who he said was going to “do something crazy.”
Police went to the shooter’s apartment at 1:08 p.m. and tried to contact him but left after 10 minutes.
As the officers cleared, a call about suspicious activity in Olde Town was made. Officer Beesley was dispatched at 1:30 p.m. and arrived at the square just moments later.
Beesley parked on Webster Street, according to Arvada police, and walked through an alleyway. As he walked westbound the suspect, later identified as 59-year-old Ronald Troyke, pulled into the area in a truck behind him before getting out with a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun and yelling at him. As Officer Beesley turned toward the gunman he was shot twice by the suspect. Police say Beesley did not reach for his gun or take any defensive actions in response to the gunman’s presence.
WARNING: The video below stops before Officer Beesley is shot, but many may still find it traumatic.
The suspect than shot out the windows of his patrol car and ran back to his truck to retrieve an AR-15 before running towards Olde Town Square where he was confronted by Johnny Hurley.
Police say Hurley shot the suspect with a handgun during the confrontation. A responding officer then encountered Hurley who was holding the suspect’s AR-15 and shot him, which led to his death.
“Mr. Hurley is a hero. He saved numerous lives to include civilians and other Arvada Police Officers,” the release from APD said.
FOX31 News confirmed the existence of the four-page anti-police letter earlier in the week , but this is the first time we’ve seen wording directly from the letter.
The excerpts released by Arvada police are:
- “My goal today is to kill Arvada PD officers”
- “We the people were never your enemy, but we are now”
- “This is what you get, you are the people who are expendable”
- “Hundreds of you pigs should be killed daily”
- “Today I will kill as many Arvada officers as I possibly can”
- “I just hope I don’t die without killing any of you pigs”
The release from Arvada police also includes video that shows the suspect get out of his vehicle with a rifle and shoot Officer Gordon Beesley.
“It is clear that the suspect bears responsibility for this tragic sequence of events,” the release from the Arvada Police Department concludes.
The suspect’s shooting of Officer Beesley and the police shooting of Hurley are being investigated as two separate incidents.
Arvada PD is handling the investigation into the shooter’s actions and Beesley’s death, while a multi-agency Critical Incident Response Team investigates the police actions and shooting death of Hurley.
Beyond stating that the officer saw Hurley with the AR-15 and shot him, Arvada PD’s release does not include any information about that encounter.