Dario
Regular Member
Greetings OCDO.
I was fishing around for some info regarding target shooting in the Boulder Ranger district of Arapahoe National Forest due to the govt shutdown (still looking) when I came across this news release from the Boulder Sheriff.
They treated it as a Search and Rescue, but after reading a drastically different interpretation (ie. panic mode) from the local paper, I became suspicious myself.
It turns out that someone called 911 when they saw a man with what a gun, which turned into a 6+ hour heavily armed manhunt. Ultimately he was found and charged by the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Rangers for violating their firearms policy (even though pellet guns are not technically firearms) EDIT: it is unclear at this time if he was actually charged with anything. The police blotter does not report anything other than "routine calls" for Oct. 1st. I am waiting for a return call from BPD at this time.
I spoke with Commander Prentup of the Sheriff's department and she assured me that they don't treat all open carry calls like they did this one. She made it clear that the Sheriff department understands and respects that Colorado is an open carry state and they take calls on a case by case basis but due to his "dress, demeanor and various witness statements" including the fact that they were unable to contact him initially, they decided that he might have been a legitimate threat. She was kind enough to send me a picture of the evil-looking-but-not-necessarily-deadly weapon.
I was fishing around for some info regarding target shooting in the Boulder Ranger district of Arapahoe National Forest due to the govt shutdown (still looking) when I came across this news release from the Boulder Sheriff.
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Search and Rescue 13-5283
Suspicious Person Reported in the Chautauqua area
Early this morning Boulder Police Department Communications received a telephone call from a concerned citizen. The person reported seeing someone leaving their car in the Chautauqua Parking area and walking into the field with something long wrapped in a blanket. In speaking with several citizens who saw the same person they all described the item as looking like a rifle. Rangers from the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, Officers from the Boulder Police Department, and University of Colorado, and Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office responded and checked the area, but were unable to locate the person that had been described to them. The trails north and east of the Flatirons were closed while the area was searched.
Later in the day Rocky Mountain Rescue and Front Range Rescue dogs were summoned to the area. Three multidisciplinary teams were sent into the field, each searching a different area. At approximately 2:30 p.m. one of the teams located the male below the first Flatiron. He was contacted and escorted down by the team. He was in possession of a .22 pellet gun which looked very much like a sniper rifle and which was wrapped in camouflage material.
The male was transported by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office out of the Mountain Parks area with the intent of securing help for him. The OSMP Rangers are pursuing charges against him for violating Open Space and Mountain Parks Regulations
They treated it as a Search and Rescue, but after reading a drastically different interpretation (ie. panic mode) from the local paper, I became suspicious myself.
It turns out that someone called 911 when they saw a man with what a gun, which turned into a 6+ hour heavily armed manhunt. Ultimately he was found and charged by the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Rangers for violating their firearms policy (even though pellet guns are not technically firearms) EDIT: it is unclear at this time if he was actually charged with anything. The police blotter does not report anything other than "routine calls" for Oct. 1st. I am waiting for a return call from BPD at this time.
I spoke with Commander Prentup of the Sheriff's department and she assured me that they don't treat all open carry calls like they did this one. She made it clear that the Sheriff department understands and respects that Colorado is an open carry state and they take calls on a case by case basis but due to his "dress, demeanor and various witness statements" including the fact that they were unable to contact him initially, they decided that he might have been a legitimate threat. She was kind enough to send me a picture of the evil-looking-but-not-necessarily-deadly weapon.
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