Montrose Police Department investigating shooting incidents and car crash
Montrose Police have been piecing together a chaotic scene that unfolded across Main Street on Saturday morning. It involved multiple gunshots, a death, and a car crashing into… Crash Burger.
According to investigators, a 42-year-old man, identified as Eduardo Garcia Barrera, was driving a car with Wyoming license plates westbound on Highway 50 into Montrose when he began shooting at other vehicles. The first reports came in around 10:16 Saturday morning. It does not appear that any occupants of the targeted vehicles were injured.
Over the next several minutes, dispatchers received numerous calls about the erratic driver as he traveled along East Main Street.
At approximately 10:21, investigators say Barrera pulled alongside a 22-year-old pedestrian in the 200 block of North San Juan Avenue and fired through the passenger-side window of his vehicle, striking the victim in the lower body. Witnesses provided aid until officers arrived. The victim was transported to the hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.
At about 10:34, officers responded to a crash. Barrera’s vehicle had collided with a concrete platform and decorative gas pump outside Crash Burger. Barrera, the sole occupant, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police say Barrera was a part-time resident of Gillette, Wyoming, and had no known ties to Montrose. Investigators have not determined a motive and say the investigation remains active.
Montrose School Board reconsidering placing superintendent Carrie Stephenson on leave
In other Montrose news, the Montrose School Board is holding a special meeting tonight. The only item on the agenda is deciding if superintendent Dr. Carrie Stephenson should be placed on leave pending an investigation into the conduct of former Olathe Elementary Principal Jennifer Hesse. According to members of the board, complaints from employees spurred the investigation, which is being handled by a third-party, but rules dictate that complaints made about personnel are not to be made public. The board voted unanimously to place Hesse on leave at an April meeting. It appears that Stephenson may have also faced some allegations of misconduct related to the investigation into Hesse, though those allegations also haven’t been made public. The board voted 4-3 to not place Stephenson on leave during that meeting. It’s unclear what prompted the board to take up the issue again. KVNF will keep you updated on this story.
Measles case confirmed in Delta
In important public news, a measles case has been identified in Delta. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Delta County Public Health, the patient is a child under 5, who had received one dose, rather than the recommended two doses, of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The child had no known connection to other recent measles cases reported in Colorado and has not traveled outside the state. The lack of a clear source of infection suggests that this case may be the result of an unidentified exposure in the community. Delta County Public Health is investigating the case. The following locations have been identified as known exposure locations:
Delta Health Urgent Care on Wednesday, May 27 from 5:30 and 8:30 p.m.
Delta Health Emergency Department on Wednesday, May 27 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Individuals who visited these locations during the listed times should watch for symptoms. For more information, visit cdphe.colorado.gov
Tina Peters released from prison
Famed election denier Tina Peters was released from prison yesterday, June 1st. Peters, a former Mesa County clerk, was convicted of orchestrating a security breach of her county’s election system in an effort to prove unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Peters served 19 months in state prison before her nine-year sentence was cut in half last month by Gov. Jared Polis in a controversial clemency decision. Polis defended his decision in a lengthy post to Substack on Sunday, saying he did not agree with her election claims, but commuted her sentence because he felt her sentence was too long. Peters will now face parole for the next three years, though the conditions remain unknown.
Wildfire season is underway across the Mountain West. After an exceptionally dry winter and with forecasters predicting a hotter and drier than normal summer, land managers and homeowners are looking for ways to better fireproof homes and landscapes. Some are turning to an unusual wildfire mitigation partner— goats.
For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KHOL’s Jenna McMurtry reports from the west side of the Tetons in Wyoming.
