Colorado gunman who killed deputy was an Iraq veteran, official says

(CNN)The man who launched a deadly attack on four police officers inside a Colorado apartment was a former Army Reservist who was deployed in Iraq for a year, a spokesperson for the military said Monday.

Authorities identified the gunman -- who was killed in Sunday's shooting -- as 37-year-old Matthew Riehl.
Riehl barricaded himself in a bedroom in his apartment in a Denver suburb before suddenly opening fire with a rifle and shooting four deputies who were in the apartment responding to a complaint.

 

One of the deputies died. Five law enforcement officers and two civilians were injured in shooting exchanges before the suspect was killed by a police tactical team, authorities said.
Riehl served with the Wyoming National Guard from 2006-2012, according to Deidre Forster with the Wyoming National Guard's office of public affairs.
Forster told CNN that Riehl enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2003. He spent time in Iraq in 2009 as part of a security mission during a one-year deployment with the 300th Field Artillery Regiment, according to Forster. He was honorably discharged in 2012 as an E-4 (specialist), Forster said.
In July, Riehl attended an eight-hour firearms course in Colorado Springs, Colorado, taught by Kenaz Tactical Group, the company said. Riehl's "demeanor during the training sessions was not alarming," company owner Robert Butler said in statement.
Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock told reporters that Riehl had previous contacts with law enforcement "throughout the metro area," but had no criminal history.
Spurlock said the four injured officers were in stable condition.
Suspicious behavior
Riehl was a 2010 graduate of the University of Wyoming law school, and in late 2017, the school alerted students and faculty to what they called suspicious behavior involving Riehl.
According to a letter sent to faculty and staff in November, Riehl posted "rambling, nonsensical messages on his Facebook page" that specifically mentioned the school. Campus police and the Laramie Police Department were both alerted to the posts. The faculty was asked to alert authorities if Riehl was spotted on campus.
  Chad Baldwin, associate vice president for communications and marketing at the university, told CNN the posts were "outrageous, vulgar and alarming." Baldwin said the university heightened security on campus, but there were no reported sightings of Riehl in the area.