LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A Lakewood police officer shot a suspect in the stomach after the suspect used a Taser on a fellow officer Wednesday afternoon during a struggle in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
The suspect was taken to a local hospital in serious condition, said Jim Bradley, a Lakewood police spokesman.
The female officer who was attacked was rattled but not injured, Bradley said.
She was taken to a hospital for observation.
Security officers from the Wal-Mart at 440 Wadsworth Blvd. reported a suspicious person at the southwest corner of the parking lot about 1 p.m., said Steve Davis, another Lakewood police spokesman.
The female officer, who was not identified, was concerned about the suspect's aggressiveness and pulled out a Taser, Davis said. The suspect, described as being 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, grabbed the Taser and used it on the officer.
"There was a struggle to get him into custody," Bradley said. "He was pretty aggressive and a pretty large individual."
When the suspect pointed the Taser at the second, male officer, the officer shot the man.
A team of investigators, made up of independent law enforcement officers from Jefferson County, will investigate the shooting, Davis said. They will recommend to the Jefferson County district attorney's office whether to file charges against the suspect and determine whether the shooting was justified.
Traffic was snarled on Wadsworth Boulevard before the afternoon rush hour as northbound lanes were closed during the investigation. Police taped off the street and a large section of the parking lot. A white car was parked on northbound Wadsworth inside the police tape. A pile of clothes was stacked near the car.
Wal-Mart security prevented reporters from talking to employees.
