Property dispute in Colorado leaves 3 dead, 1 critically wounded and suspect on the run

WESTCLIFFE, Colo. (AP) — Authorities in Colorado hunted Tuesday for a man they believe shot and killed three people and critically wounded a fourth in a property dispute.

The 45-year-old suspect was believed to be driving a white Ram 1500 pickup truck with a camper shell, according to a Facebook post from the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.

Residents of the wooded, rural area were told to shelter in place for five hours on Monday as authorities hunted for the man, but the order was lifted Monday night while he remained at large. The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post early Tuesday that it is searching for the man and residents should shelter in place in the southeastern part of the county, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of where the shooting occurred. The affected area is south of U.S. Route 50 from the Freemont County line to Poncha Springs.

At around 1 p.m. Monday, a report of shots being fired sent deputies to Rocky Ridge Road, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the county seat of Westcliffe and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Colorado Springs.

The shooting took place on the property line in a wooded area and began with “a suspected property dispute,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

Two men and a woman died at the scene and a fourth person was taken to a trauma center in critical condition but was expected to survive, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The victims’ names and other details weren’t immediately released.

It was one of several mass shootings that occurred in the past few days around the country.

Four people were wounded Monday night when a gunman opened fire in a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, before apparently killing himself, police said.

On Sunday, a Tennessee man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while on the run after a series of shootings that killed four of his female relatives.

Officers found the body of Mavis Christian Jr., 52, in his car during a search following shootings at three locations in Memphis that left three women and a teenage girl dead and a teenage girl critically wounded, the Memphis Police Department said.