A man shot by local law enforcement March 19 has been charged with multiple felonies, including attempted murder.
Zachary Sullivan, 31, was formally advised of his charges Monday afternoon before Montezuma County Judge JenniLynn Lawrence. Sullivan was walking, and no injuries were visible from under his jail uniform.
Sullivans charges include two counts of attempted murder, two felony counts of first-degree assault, possession of a firearm by a felon, as well as several sentence enhancing charges pertaining to prior felonies, violent crime and the alleged involvement of a deadly weapon.
Each of the felony counts could carry a sentence of 24 to 48 years in prison with an additional enhancer of five years.
Two local law enforcement officers, one from the Cortez Police Department and one from the Montezuma County Sheriffs Office, were reportedly involved in the shooting, which took place after Sullivan allegedly pulled a gun on one of the officers. Neither of the officers was injured.
Officers responded just after midnight to a dispatch call regarding an allegedly intoxicated man when the incident occurred, Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said on the day of the incident.
Sullivan is known to law enforcement officers and has had numerous interactions with officers in the past few years, Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell said the day of the shooting.
During contact with the officers, Sullivan allegedly pulled out a concealed semi-automatic handgun and pointed it in the face of the police officer. Officers responded immediately, shooting Sullivan multiple times, according to Lane.
Immediately after the incident, numerous other officers responded to the scene. One officer from the police department arrived on the scene at the time of the incident and witnessed the shooting, according to Spruell, who noted the officers responded to the situation as they were trained.
Their training kicked in, and they did what they were supposed to do, he said.
Sullivan was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital for treatment. He was immediately airlifted to Denver General Hospital and was later placed in the custody of the Denver County Jail.
He was returned to the custody of the Montezuma County Detention Center on March 26 and remains in custody.
Sullivan was arrested in Cortez in 2001 and charged with several counts of aggravated armed robbery, menacing, assault and larceny for which he was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison, according to a criminal history report. He has been convicted of criminal mischief and smuggling weapons and contraband into prison.
Investigation of the incident has been turned over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, as per department policy, until the investigation is complete. Officers names will not be released until the investigation is finished.
We call in CBI since both agencies were involved to ensure the incident is independently and fairly investigated, Lane said.
Sullivans attorney could not be reached for comment before deadline Monday.
Journal Staff Writer Kimberly Benedict contributed to this report.
Reach Reid Wright at [email protected].
