Man dies after police chase, shooting on University of Northern Colorado campus
The man who died after police shot him during a chase through the University of Northern Colorado campus in Greeley Wednesday evening has been identified.
Theodore Lee Rybus, 41, of Greeley, was identified as the man whom police shot during a chase on foot through the university campus Wednesday night, according to a news release from the Weld County Coroner’s Office.
The office added that Rybus died of a self-inflicted wound, though he did also sustain a wound from the shots the officers fired.
No officers or members of the public were injured in the shooting, according to social media posts from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office.
The confrontation began at 8:12 p.m. when a Greeley police officer attempted a traffic stop in the area of 18th Street near the campus, according to a social media post from the office Wednesday night. The driver, Rybus, whom officers knew had an active arrest warrant for a motor vehicle theft, did not yield to police during the stop.
Rybus then got out of the car, brandished a gun and led police on a chase through the campus, according to the post. At one point, he shot his gun and officers returned fire.
Police chased him on foot to the area of the Garden Theatre, commanding him to drop his gun and ordering bystanders to leave the area, they said. Rybus then turned toward two of the officers with the gun in his hand and one officer, after hearing gunfire, aired over the radio that he was being shot at.
Officers then fired their weapons, shooting him, according to the post. The man also suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the incident.
A spokesperson for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office did not confirm whether the self-inflicted gunshot was the one they heard before firing at the man.
If anyone has any information about this case, they are asked to contact Sgt. Gerald Porter with the Weld County Sheriff’s Office at 970-400-5392 or Det. Leslie Schmidt-Johnson with the Windsor Police Department at 970-674-6446.