No general alert sent after center shootings
By Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published December 10, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.
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Arvada police did not send out a computer alert to other law enforcement agencies about the shooting at a training center run by a Christian missionary organization early Sunday morning.
Deputy Chief Gary Creager said Sunday night that detectives had no indication the gunman was headed anywhere in particular and were given only a sketchy description that would have been useless to other law enforcement agencies.
"A very basic description of a white male in his 20s, with a dark- colored coat and a dark-colored hat, is not a lot of information to give somebody, especially when we didn't have any indication he was going somewhere," Creager said.
Known as a BOLO - for "be on the lookout" - the alerts are a tool used to inform law enforcement agencies across the state about serious incidents or wanted suspects.
Creager said Arvada police notified the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office but did not use either the state or national crime computer systems to alert other agencies.
"In this case, we had no indication that the suspect fled in a car; we had no information other than he fled on foot," Creager said. "We had no indication that he had left the immediate area.
"The agencies surrounding us were aware of it."
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