Michael Smart and Eleah Benton of Colorado Springs place flowers on a memorial outside the El Paso County Sheriff's Office in Colorado Springs, Colo., Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, for Deputy Micah Flick, who was killed when an investigation of a motor vehicle theft turned into a deadly shooting Monday outside a Colorado Springs apartment complex. Three other law enforcement officers were shot. The suspect was killed and one citizen injured. Smart and Benton didn't know the 34-year-old deputy but wanted to pay their respects. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - A man suspected in the killing a Colorado sheriff's deputy fired a semi-automatic handgun during a struggle with multiple officers, authorities said Tuesday.
Manuel Zetina, 19, struggled with officers after he exited a stolen vehicle and was confronted in the parking lot of an apartment complex Monday afternoon, according to Colorado Springs police. Zetina was shot and died at the scene.
El Paso County sheriff's Deputy Micah Flick, 34, was also killed in the shootout. He was Colorado's third law enforcement officer to be killed in five weeks, marking the closest string of on-duty deaths in three decades.
The last time this many Colorado officers were killed in the line of duty so close together was in 1987, when three were killed within a month.
Sheriff's Sgt. Jake Abendshan, Deputy Scott Stone, Colorado Springs Police Detective Marcus Yanez and a bystander were injured in Monday's shooting.
"A number of other officers" were at the scene but not injured, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder said, calling the shooting "senseless violence."
He said the plainclothes officers were part of a group that works together regularly and that they all wore protective vests as well as placards and badges identifying them as law enforcement.
Stone was shot in abdomen and hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday. His injuries did not appear life-threatening, authorities said. Abendshan, who appears to have been hit by shrapnel, was treated and released Monday night.
Yanez, who also was shot, has since been released from a hospital. The name and condition of the bystander who was shot have not been released.
The shooting comes just days after the funeral for Adams County Deputy Heath Gumm, who was shot Jan. 24 while chasing a suspect. On Dec. 31, Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parrish died after he was shot in suburban Denver by a man with a history of mental health issues.
Flick, who grew up in Colorado Springs, was killed on his 11th anniversary with the sheriff's office. He leaves behind a wife and 7-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
Elder said he believes a lack of respect for law enforcement has developed in the past few years.
"And frankly it just shocks me, it shocks my staff, it shocks the leadership of public safety throughout the country," the sheriff said.
Gov. John Hickenlooper ordered that flags on state buildings be lowered.
"We will once more come together to provide sympathy and strength for the deputy's loved ones and pray for the recovery of those injured; however, we also must come together and say enough is enough," he said in a statement.
Flick's funeral will be held Saturday.
In this undated photo provided on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Micah Flick is shown. Flick was shot and killed on Monday, while investigating a stolen vehicle in Colorado Springs, Colo. He became the third officer to be gunned down in the line of duty in the state in the past five weeks. (El Paso County Sheriff's Office via AP)
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El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder speaks during a press conference at the the El Paso County Sheriff's Office in Colorado Springs, Colo., Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, regarding the Monday shooting that left deputy Micah Flick dead and three other law enforcement officers wounded during an investigation of a motor vehicle theft in a Colorado Springs apartment complex. The suspect was killed and one citizen injured. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
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Karla Gross of Colorado Springs wipes away a tear as she and Joseph Gatelein pays their respects at a memorial outside the El Paso County Sheriff's Office in Colorado Springs, Colo., Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, for deputy Micah Flick, who was killed when an investigation of a motor vehicle theft turned into a deadly shooting Monday outside a Colorado Springs apartment complex. Three other law enforcement officers were shot. The suspect was killed and one citizen injured. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
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Rick Beckner salutes the procession for El Paso County Sheriff's Deputy Micah Flick while holding his flag on the side of the road outside of the El Paso County Coroner's Office, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Flick was shot and killed while he and other officers were investigating a stolen vehicle. (Nadav Soroker/The Gazette via AP)
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A police chaplain heads to the ambulance entrance at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central following a shooting in Colorado Springs, Colo., Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. A Colorado sheriff's deputy was shot and killed on Monday, the third officer to be gunned down in the line of duty in the state in the past five weeks. El Paso County Deputy Micah Flick, 34, was killed while investigating a stolen vehicle in Colorado Springs, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Denver, authorities said. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP)
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An El Paso County Sheriff's deputy works the scene of a shooting in Colorado Springs, Colo., Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. Police in Colorado Springs say they are responding to a "critical incident" in a neighborhood of single-family homes, apartment buildings and retail stores in east Colorado Springs. (Nadav Soroker/The Gazette via AP)
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A police procession makes its way down South Nevada Avenue that was held for fallen El Paso County Sheriff's Deputy Micah Flick, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Flick was shot and killed while he and other officers were investigating a stolen vehicle earlier Monday. (Dougal Brownlie/The Gazette via AP)
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People watch as a police procession makes its way down South Nevada Avenue, that was held for fallen El Paso County Sheriff's Deputy Micah Flick, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Flick was shot and killed while he and other officers were investigating a stolen vehicle earlier Monday. (Dougal Brownlie/The Gazette via AP)
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