Rocky Mountain National Park ranger shooting suspect charged; incident details emerge

Update, Dec. 17: The 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office has filed charges against the Rocky Mountain National Park shooting suspect for his alleged actions outside the park before the shooting.

In addition to his federal case, Daron Ellis is also charged in district court with vehicular eluding and aggravated motor vehicle theft, according to online court records.

Original: A man has been charged in federal court with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon following last week's shooting of a Rocky Mountain National Park ranger.

The shooting happened at 10:15 a.m. Dec. 8 near the park's Fall River entrance during a stop to investigate a stolen vehicle. Park spokesperson Kyle Patterson said she believes this may be the first time a shooting like this has occurred in the park since it was established in 1915.

A national park service law enforcement ranger, who has not been publicly identified by law enforcement, was wearing a ballistic vest when he was shot in the chest. The ranger exchanged fire and injured one of the suspects, Patterson previously told the Coloradoan. Neither was seriously injured in the shooting, but both were hospitalized.

Daron Marquel Ellis, 29, was later taken into custody in connection with the incident.

Ellis was informed of the felony charge connected to the case — which can result in up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000 — during his initial appearance in Federal District Court in Denver on Monday, according to a Wednesday news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado. Ellis was ordered to remain in custody during that appearance, according to the release.

An 18-year-old female from Aurora who was in the stolen vehicle was held in Larimer County Jail after the incident on a previous outstanding arrest warrant from Jefferson County, according to jail records. She was not injured in the shooting, and the Coloradoan is not naming her because it does not plan to follow her case.

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The incident started when a Colorado State Patrol trooper stopped a red 2016 Hyundai Sonata with Colorado license plates along U.S. Highway 34, according to the arrest affidavit. During the stop, the trooper discovered the vehicle and plates appeared to have been stolen separately.

Arrest documents allege that the suspect, later identified as Ellis, did not provide identification and got out of his vehicle, at which point the trooper ordered him back into his vehicle. Ellis then fled from the scene and the trooper pursued him for a quarter-mile before ending the chase, according to those documents.

Then law enforcement was made aware that the vehicle was heading west on U.S. 34.

The national park service law enforcement ranger used his vehicle just inside the park's Fall River entrance to block the road. About 30 minutes after having been stopped by the trooper, Ellis attempted to avoid the blocked lanes, striking a boulder in the process, according to arrest documents.

According to a witness account reported by 9News, the ranger was shot while approaching the vehicle. Arrest documents say Ellis fired multiple rounds at the ranger, striking him in his body armor, after which the ranger also fired several rounds at Ellis and struck him.

Previous coverage: Shooting between Rocky Mountain National Park ranger, suspect closes Fall River entrance

Emergency radio communication captured the shooting.

"All units, all units 211 (the ranger's ID number), 211 I have been hit. I have the patient, suspect,'' the ranger is heard saying before yelling at the suspect.

"Stay down, stay down,'' the ranger yells.

Dispatch then asks for the ranger's location and he responds by saying it's the Fall River entrance.

"I have been hit. I believe I'm Code 4 (law enforcement code for OK). I hit the suspect as well,'' the ranger says. "I took one to the vest. I'm Code 4.''

A video shared with the Coloradoan's media partner 9News also shows the ranger holding the suspects, who are lying on the side of the road in the video, at gunpoint and telling them not to talk.

According to emergency radio communication, the ranger was struck in the left chest area. Ellis was shot in the leg. Both were hospitalized initially in Estes Park before being transported to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland.

The Hyundai Sonata's windshield was shattered by bullets penetrating the window as well as bullets that penetrated the vehicle's driver's door, according to the arrest documents. The ranger's vehicle also was struck.

A witness said he believed he heard eight to 11 shots, according to 9News.

A 9mm Glock semiautomatic handgun was found in the vehicle with one round of ammunition chambered and five rounds in a magazine that can hold 10 rounds, according to the affidavit.

Rocky Mountain National Park was closed for much of the day of the shooting and reopened that evening, the park previously announced.

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All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. Arrests and charges are merely accusations by law enforcement until, and unless, a suspect is convicted of a crime.

Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Suspect in Rocky Mountain National Park ranger shooting charged