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House condemned because of damage after fatal police shooting

Englewood police shot a man inside the house after an hourslong standoff.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Outside the boarded-up house on Cherokee Street in Englewood, a scrap removal worker sifts through discarded metal on the driveway. 

He knows how to pick up the pieces. The rest is up to homeowner Joe Wozna, who has no idea where to start. 

Englewood Police surrounded his home Tuesday in a search for a man who they said shot at them from inside. A release from the department said they were assisting Denver Police in executing a high-risk search warrant/warrant pick-up. 

In an hourslong standoff, police broke down the garage door and deployed tear gas inside before shooting and killing the man they said pointed a gun at them. 

"I was in shock," Wozna said. "I mean, I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea why." 

He said he was at work and didn't know his sister, who was renting his basement unit, asked her ex to come by. 

"I guess she had asked him to come over to help with some plumbing on the basement shower," Wozna said. 

RELATED: 1 dead after shooting involving police in Englewood

He said he got home and could hear his windows shattering from the other side of the police tape. 

"I assume I heard the noise that it made when they hit the roof of the house with the battering ram as well," Wozna said. 

The damage is so bad, he said, building inspectors condemned the home until he can get it fixed. 

"The front door you can see there's a bullet hole in it. The frame that goes around the door is cracked and busted. All the windows on the south side of my house are broken. The garage door is busted down," he said. 

Now, Wozna said he is essentially homeless and has to couch-surf at friends' houses. His car is riddled with bullets and his house of 17 years is unlivable.

"My house is all I have," he said. "I don't have much else."

Wozna said he plans to file an insurance claim and petition the city to see if they'll help pay for damages. He doesn't have high hopes either will come through so he's started a GoFundMe, too. 

RELATED: Brothers arrested in fatal shooting of woman in Lakewood

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