No general alert sent after center shootings
By Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published December 10, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.
- PDF: Search warrant for gunman's home
- Arvada investigators believe attacks linked
- Danger and death in Arvada
- No general alert sent after center shootings
- 'Last place' for a deadly attack
- Dan Griebenow has group rooting for his recovery
- Tiffany Johnson was known for her smile, her love of children
- Charlie Blanch involved with YWAM for 2 years
- Philip Crouse had undergone transformation
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."
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
