Deputy responds to gunfire

November 18, 2009

By JoAn Bjarko

The Wellington

   Late on a Saturday night, Wellington’s (Colorado) bicycle patroling deputy, Matthew Cherry, heard gunfire not far away.

Cherry credits his ability to hear the shot and quickly respond on Nov. 7 to the town’s recent purchase of two bicycles specifically designed for law enforcement.

“I heard a shot fired, and I got there within seconds,” Cherry told The Wellington in a telephone interview. “Had I been in a car, I doubt I would have heard it, but I do drive with the windows down.”

Cherry was patroling near the corner of Third Street and Grant Avenue around 11 p.m. when a suspect fired a shotgun at 8410 Third St., less than a block away.

“I was halfway there before the 911 calls started coming in,” Cherry said.

The quick response also made Cherry the lone deputy at the scene for seven minutes before other officers arrived.

“It was pretty chaotic,” he said, “a lot of yelling and screaming. I tried to gain order.”

Cherry said he found the suspect armed with a pump shotgun and pistol. The armed man, who had been hit in the head with a hammer, was taken to Medical Center of the Rockies, officials reported. A report on his condition was not available.

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Department, which provides law enforcement services for Wellington, did not release the name of the suspect or other details. Officials said more information will be made public after the numerous officers who responded complete their reports.