Officers have arrested a suspect after an early morning robbery of a convenience store at 2nd Street and North Avenue.
Officers with the Grand Junction Police Department were dispatched to a report of a robbery in progress this morning at 5:35am. The reporting party stated that the business had been robbed by a suspect armed with a gun. Shots were reportedly fired, but no one was injured. Officers arrived on scene within minutes, but the suspect was no longer at the store. Deputies with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office also responded to assist.
Officers set up a perimeter and began searching for the suspect. Shortly after the robbery occurred, the Grand Junction Regional Communication Center received a call from a reporting party stating that someone had broken into the apartments in the 200 Block of Belford Avenue. The resident of the apartment called and said that a male with a gun had broken into his apartment and was laying on his floor. The reporting party was able to exit the apartment safely and told officers that the subject who broke in was the only one remaining in the residence. An emergency notification was sent to 306 contacts in the area to shelter in place.
SWAT operators with the Grand Junction Police Department and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and evacuated surrounding apartments while a search warrant was prepared and signed. Ultimately, SWAT operators were able to take the adult male suspect into custody without further incident. The suspect was transported to the hospital and, once medically cleared, he will be booked into the Mesa County Detention Facility on a number of felony charges.
This incident required the response of 35 law enforcement personnel, as well as medical personnel with the Grand Junction Fire Department, and dispatchers with the Grand Junction Regional Communication Center’s mobile Incident Dispatch Team. The duration of the incident was approximately 4 hours.
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