JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. – A man shot and killed by a Jefferson County deputy Thursday afternoon has been identified.
Austin Dunsmore, 25, wasshot during a confrontation outside an auto parts storenear the intersection of West Chatfield Avenue and South Kipling Avenue around 3:42 p.m.
According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the deputy was responding to a traffic complaint call when the deputy spotted Dunsmore's car in the parking lot of an O'Reilly auto parts store.
The sheriff’s office says Dunsmore was seen driving recklessly in an Audi sedan on C-470 just before the parking lot shooting.
The deputy first approached Dunsmore as he was walking out of the auto parts store. According to the sheriff's office, the deputy repeatedly instructed Dunsmore to stop, but he refused to comply with the deputy’s instructions and instead jumped into the driver’s seat of the Audi.
The deputy continued to the driver’s side door of the Audi and during that contact, a confrontation occurred resulting in the deputy shooting the driver, a Jefferson County release stated. It's not clear if the suspect was armed.
A multi-jurisdictional critical incident response team is interviewing witnesses and the deputy to find out what happened. The deputy was placed on leave, which is standard protocol following an officer-involved shooting.
The sheriff's office did not release any other details.
