Denver police say the man who shot and killed a woman and injured her boyfriend Wednesday in the Ballpark section of Five Points did so after the man told his dog to poop.
Michael Close, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Isabella Thallas, 21, and wounding Darian Simon, 26. An affidavit says Close aimed the gun at the couple through the window of a ground-floor apartment at 3001 N. Fox St. at 11:41 a.m. after the man directed his dog to go to the bathroom.
Close asked Simon if he was "going to train the dog or just yell at it," the affidavit states. The victim tried to ignore Close but then saw the gun pointed at him and his girlfriend before hearing shots fired.
Thallas died at the scene. Simon was wounded in his leg and buttocks, according to the affidavit.
Close fled the murder scene in a black Mercedes Benz with Colorado plates and headed toward the mountains on US-285. Denver police alerted their regional counterparts, and authorities arrested him near Pine Junction at 1:08 p.m. after a traffic stop.
The arresting deputy found an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun on the car's floor in front of the passenger seat, as well as a gun belt and gun magazines. Close is in jail awaiting a court hearing.
This article has been updated to correct an error in reporting. The suspect's last name is Close, not Cole.
