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Man sentenced to 28 years in shooting involving Commerce City Police

Oscar Gurrola and another man were arrested on Nov. 29, 2021, after one of them reportedly shot at officers, the district attorney's office said

A man was sentenced Friday to 28 years in prison in connection with a shooting involving Commerce City Police.

Oscar Gurrola, 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault – threatening a peace officer with a weapon —  and was immediately sentenced. As part of the plea agreement, additional charges, including attempted murder, were dismissed.

Officers responded at about 6:15 p.m. in the 7500 block of Brighton Road on Nov. 29, 2021, to a report of two men fighting in the middle of a street, according to a decision letter from the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

When the first officer arrived, she saw two men standing near a car that appeared to be smoking and approached it in her patrol car with her emergency lights activated.

The man kept walking toward her car and fired at her as she backed away, at which point two more officers drove up alongside the first responding officer in another patrol car.

The officers took defensive positions about a block away from the sedan, the man fired at them again, and two officers armed with 5.56 rifles fired a total of 11 shots at the suspect, according to the letter.

At that point, two sergeants with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office arrived, and the suspect who was shooting got into the passenger seat of the sedan, which went east on 76th Avenue, police said.

The sergeants pursued the suspects, who were found in their car idling in a nearby parking lot, the letter reads. When one sergeant got out to confront the suspects on foot, the driver revved the engine and turned the car toward the sergeant.

The sergeant then pulled out his handgun, ordered the men to get out of the car, and fired at the car when they ignored his command and drove toward him, the letter says. The sedan then veered and crashed into a parked car before coming west on 76th Avenue.

The second sergeant caught up to the first, got out of his car, took cover with a .223 rifle, and after he heard two other sergeants give commands for them to stop followed by gunshots, he fired 12 shots into the driver-side door as it went past him, the letter says.

One of the sergeants continued pursuing the suspects west on 76th Avenue until the sedan turned south onto Brighton Road, and then conducted a PIT maneuver which spun the vehicle around before it crashed into a boulder.

Authorities surrounded the sedan, and the suspects were eventually arrested after a lengthy standoff, according to the letter.

Gurrola suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and Valverde was not injured.

District Attorney Brian Mason said in the letter that he found all of the officers who fired at the suspects were justified to use reasonable force.

“Each of the officers who fired their weapons explained that Mr. Gurrola’s actions caused them to fear for their own life, as well as the lives of their partners involved in the effort to apprehend him,” Mason said.

Estevan Valverde, who was also arrested in connection to the shooting, is scheduled to go to trial in September.

For more stories like this, visit The Denver Gazette’s news partner, 9News

Estevan Valverde, left, and Oscar Gurrola were arrested on Nov. 29, 2021 following a shootout with Commerce City police officers and a vehicular pursuit. Gurrola pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and received 28 years in prison. Valverde is scheduled for trial in September. (Courtesy of the Adams County Sheriff's Office)
Estevan Valverde, left, and Oscar Gurrola were arrested on Nov. 29, 2021 following a shootout with Commerce City police officers and a vehicular pursuit. Gurrola pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and received 28 years in prison. Valverde is scheduled for trial in September. (Courtesy of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office)


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