A Pueblo police officer struck and killed a shoplifting suspect who brandished a handgun and refused to follow orders, Colorado State Patrol officials said Tuesday.

The encounter started at 1:23 p.m. when police tried to contact a person suspected of shoplifting at a Famous Footwear in the Pueblo Crossing shopping center in north Pueblo.

The person ran away from officers, who followed on foot and in a patrol vehicle. At one point the suspect ran toward the front entrance of the state patrol’s Pueblo office while brandishing a handgun. After they refused to drop the gun, a Pueblo police officer hit them with a vehicle, CSP officials said in a news release. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

Further details about the fatal crash were not available Tuesday night, including w

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