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Police Shootings In Grand Junction, Montrose

There was a police shooting in Grand Junction Monday. 

Not many details have been released, but two officers were responding to a call to remove someone from a property on Grand Avenue when they made contact with someone in a car parked outside.  Shots were fired, and the man in the car was killed.  A gun was recovered from the vehicle.

All of this comes less than 24 hours after a police shooting in Montrose.  Two officers with the City of Montrose were called out to check on the welfare of a 42-year-old man.  His family made the request.

The man brandished a gun at the officers, and they opened fire.  He was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction. 

"We were called to check on the welfare, to check that he was OK," said patrol commander Gene Lillard, "it sounds like he was distraught." 

Lillard said one of the officers involved was also the same officer at a shooting six weeks ago. 

"It's just the nature of the beast that he was on graveyard shift.  Both incidences happened at night...It's a hard one to explain." 

He pointed out that before these two shootings, the last shooting they had was in 2009.  In that incident, three police officers were shot and one was killed. 

Lillard said that the man shot Saturday has not been charged with any crimes yet, but they do anticipate it.