LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The man believed to be responsible for a fatal shooting in the parking lot of a Lakewood Walmart on Friday morning was fatally shot by officers after fleeing the scene while firing a weapon, according to John Romero, a spokesperson for the Lakewood Police Department (LPD).
The shooting happened in the parking lot of the store located near West 4th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard shortly before 10:30 a.m. Friday. Witnesses said the suspect, described as a middle-aged white man, fired multiple rounds at the victim who was sitting in his car. The victim died at the scene.
After the shooting, the suspect fled westbound across Wadsworth Boulevard, according to Romero.
Still armed with a handgun, police said the suspect attempted to carjack employees and customers at the Grease Monkey located at 395 Wadsworth Blvd.
"You know, I started shaking," said Dezirae Eggers, an assistant manager Grease Monkey.
She said the man was erratic and repeatedly demanded keys.
"He was like, 'is your life worth it?' He was threatening us, you know," she said. "And said it a few times, 'is your life worth it?' And kept pointing at me and my manager, John."
The carjacking was unsuccessful.
"As soon as the guy chased my manager, I took off and called the cops. I went inside the lobby and you know ducked, you know, making sure he didn’t see me that I was on the phone," Eggers said.
As officers moved in, the suspect fled into a neighborhood on the 7700 block of West 4th Avenue.
"It was an active shooter scene. The suspect was firing off rounds basically the entire time, " said John Romero, spokesperson for LPD.
Several homes and a police car were hit by gunfire. The suspect was eventually fatally shot by officers, Romero said.
"Luckily no one else was hurt in this situation. It could’ve been a lot worse than what it was given the active shooter situation that we had," he said.
"I’m just glad that scary situation, you know, I was able to live through it and my crew would live through it," Eggers said. "Looking forward to going home with my family."
The victim is an adult man in his 20s or 30s. Romero said the suspect is also an adult man around the same age. LPD said they'll work with Walmart to review any video of the shooting.
The Jefferson County Critical Incident Response Team will investigate this shooting. Per policy, the Lakewood agents who shot the suspect will be placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Local stories from 9NEWS