Standoff ends in death of suspect

The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office has released the name of a man killed during a SWAT standoff in Englewood on July 18.

Ernesto Edward Gonzalez, 41, born Nov. 25, 1981, was pronounced dead at the scene and the manner of death was homicide — meaning a killing caused by the actions of another — the coroner's office said.

Online court records show Gonzalez had a handful of criminal convictions from Adams County, Arapahoe County and Denver from 2002 to 2014, and was the subject of a few protection orders, but the court record is mostly marked by a large number of dismissed cases.

Gonzalez died at the end of a long standoff involving Englewood police and other agencies.

Englewood's SWAT team was called to assist Denver Police Department’s Fugitive Unit serve an arrest warrant at the 4100 block of South Cherokee Street on July 18.

“Once on scene, officers spoke with family members who said that only one male was in the house," according to an Englewood police press release.

After that, at 3:10 p.m., police said they issued a shelter-in-place notification for the area using the Arapalert emergency notification system. Officers then attempted to make contact with Gonzalez, including using verbal commands outside the house.  

“At 4:01 p.m. numerous shots were fired from the basement," according to the release. "At that point, a single Englewood officer returned fire. It is unknown if the suspect was injured at that time. Mutual aid was requested from multiple agencies."

Police presence was heavy. Arapahoe County sheriff’s deputies and Littleton police officers also responded to the incident and another emergency notification was sent to residents, telling them to prepare to evacuate. Around 5:15 p.m., agencies evacuated surrounding residents. Once the area was clear, officers continued multiple attempts to negotiate the man’s surrender.

“During the incident, the suspect fired numerous times with at least one armored vehicle being struck," the release said. "Officers continued their attempts for several hours and deployed numerous resources including drones, bomb squad robot and gas, to resolve the issue, however, the suspect failed to surrender."

At one point, officers used an armored car to enter the house through the garage. There, they encountered Gonzalez, who was pointing a gun at them, according to the press release.

“Officers and the suspect exchanged multiple gunshots, at which point the suspect was struck,” the release said.  

Though emergency medical services were on standby, Gonzalez was declared dead at the scene. 

The 18th Judicial District’s Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the use of force by law enforcement.  

Scott Gilbert contributed to this story.