Boulder PD
A suspect was arrested and two hostages were rescued after police responded to reports of a “booby-trapped” house in Boulder, Colorado, leading to a standoff, on November 28, 2022. While there had been reports of multiple people dead in the home, there have been no reports of anyone being killed or injured during the incident, the Boulder Daily Camera reports.
Just before 1 a.m. on November 29, Boulder Police tweeted, “Suspect in custody. Please continue to avoid the area while we process the scene. We will tweet when the intersection is back open.” At 6:30 a.m., police said the road was reopened and added that they, “anticipate sharing more information about this incident today in a news release.”
At one point on police radio transmissions streamed live on the scanner website Broadcastify, police said they were advised there were four dead bodies in the basement. But police said there have been no confirmed deaths. The suspect was described as wearing a baseball cap.
Officers discussed the location of the suspect inside the house. Shortly after 10 p.m. on November 28, 2022, Boulder police tweeted, “Please avoid the 3300 block of Broadway near Iris. We are currently responding to a man barricaded inside a residence. This is a very active scene and more information will be coming shortly #boulder #bouldercolorado.”
Here’s what you need to know:
An Officer Fired at the Suspect During the Rescue of Hostages, Police Say
Boulder Police tweeted, “This incident began when Boulder Police received information from @LafayettePolice about a possible hostage situation inside the city. Officers responded to the scene & rescued two people from inside the home.
Police added, “During the rescue, 1 officer fired their gun. No one was struck. Tho the victims were rescued, the suspect then barricaded himself inside the home. He is believed to be armed with multiple firearms. Officers are evacuating people nearby & working to take him safely into custody.”
On the scanner, officers discussed a large law enforcement response to the scene, including SWAT officers. The motive and suspect name are not yet clear. They also discussed that the suspect is “anti law enforcement” and possibly in possession of hand-held flood lights.
Police have not confirmed how many people are dead or injured and how they were injured specifically. Officers described seeing a “pulsating white light” through a window of the home. Officers discussed evacuating houses adjacent to the home where the man was barricaded.
The reports were preliminary and the details subject to change. Officers said a female hostage had escaped from a window in scanner discussions. In other scanner audio, they said they believed there were no victims left inside the house, and they indicated that ambulances were responding to the scene. Police described approaching the scene and said the man was in a door at one point.
The Suspect Was ‘Armed With Guns & Explosives,’ Police Said at One Point
The suspect was “armed with guns and explosives,” police said.
You can listen to the earliest scanner reports above. In the audio, in several places, police referred to “John Fleming” and “Fleming,” saying he was in the door.
They discussed the man, and they said at one point that there was a report of four bodies in the basement, but it’s not clear whether officers verified this as true.
Police had not officially released any suspect’s name nor identified the suspect as Fleming, however. But online jail records viewed by Heavy show 56-year-old John Lee Fleming was booked into the Boulder County Jail at about 7:20 a.m. Details of the charges he could face were not immediately available.
Property records show the home in the standoff lists to John Lee Fleming and Gloria Fleming. He is in his 50s and she is in her 90s. She appears to be John Fleming’s mother and is deceased, according to family obituaries. Police have not released a motive.
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