Colorado authorities are searching for a man suspected of fatally shooting three people Monday afternoon after an argument about property spiraled out of control.
The incident in Custer County left two men and a woman dead, according to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies called to the scene in a wooded area at around 1 p.m. also found another woman who had been shot in the chest several times.
That woman was airlifted to hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive, Sheriff Lloyd “Rich” Smith said at a Monday night news conference. A fifth person, described by KMGH-TV as a surveyor, had been with the group found close to the property line in a wooded area, Smith said, but they were able to escape.
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Authorities have identified the suspect as Hanme K. Clark, 45. “The suspect and at least one of the victims have been in previous civil disputes about property lines,” Smith said, according to CNN, though Smith did not provide details about the disputes.
In the wake of the shooting in Custer County—a rural area of Colorado with just over 5,000 residents—the suspect fled before deputies arrived. Smith said a shelter-in-place order was sent out to locals as law enforcement accompanied by a drone and SWAT team scoured the area.
The sheriff said Clark was believed to be driving a white Dodge Ram pickup truck on Monday night and that authorities remained confident he would be caught. “We have a very good lead on almost exactly where the suspect and the vehicle are, and we’re working with another law enforcement agency to take him into custody,” Smith said.
