Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Man shot, killed on Ignacio RV grounds

Suspected shooter later shoots himself a few miles down road as police close in

IGNACIO – A 33-year-old man is suspected of killing another man, age 27, on Tuesday in an RV campground at Sky Ute Fairgrounds before turning a gun on himself on a rural road a few miles away as law enforcement closed in.

The initial shooting was reported at 10:23 a.m. at the fairgrounds RV park, 200 East Colorado Highway 151.

Two RV park residents said they heard three to four shots, then a pause, then a final shot.

Medics worked to resuscitate the victim, but he died at the scene, said Dan Bender, spokesman for the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect fled the RV campground at high speed in a silver Toyota Tundra, witnesses said.

A Bayfield Marshal’s deputy caught up with the suspect in the 5700 block of County Road 523, about 11 miles from the campground. The man exited the pickup and shot himself in the head, law-enforcement officials said.

The suspect died after being transported to Mercy Regional Medical Center.

Bender declined to name the victim or suspect, pending further notification of family members.

“The suspect and victim knew each other,” he said.

The park is on Southern Ute Indian Tribe land, but neither the victim nor the suspect was a tribal member, Bender said.

A man’s body, wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt, could be seen lying outside an RV trailer with an Arizona license plate in space 32 in the dusty RV park ringed by cottonwoods.

The sheriff’s office is leading the investigation with assistance from the Colorado State Patrol and Southern Ute Tribal Police. Los Pinos Fire was also on scene.

No lockdowns were ordered for Ignacio School District schools nearby.

Larry Oium, a park resident, was talking to a woman who was riding her horse when he heard the gunshots. Oium said he saw the pickup speed off.

“When things happen like that, your brain is kicking in like, What is this?,” he said.

“I was going to introduce myself to some of the neighbors,” Oium said. “I don’t really know any of them.”

At the entrance to the RV park, signs laid out the rules. One said “No Weapons.”

cslothower@durangoherald.com

Apr 15, 2015
Ignacio shooter, victim ID’d


Reader Comments