The 46-year-old man fatally shot by Thornton police officers during an August standoff has been identified, coroner’s officials announced Thursday.
Pedro Noe Sotelo was shot by Thornton officers on Aug. 12 after shooting his dog and firing at police, according to the police department.
Paramedics took Sotelo to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries on Sept. 1, according to the Adams County Coroner’s Office.
An autopsy was performed, but Sotelo’s cause and manner of death are pending further investigation, coroner’s officials said.
The shooting happened in the 9700 block of Washington Street around 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12, police said. Officers responded to reports of a man firing his gun into the air and, after they arrived, Sotelo retreated into his car.
As police tried to negotiate with the man sitting inside his car, pointing his gun at himself and officers, Sotelo shot and killed his dog, police said. Police negotiated with the man for 30 minutes before he exited his vehicle and fired at officers.
That’s when police returned fire.
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