Johnny Hurley, 40, a bystander who had just shot and killed a cop-hating gunman was himself fatally struck by a responding officer.
Hurley was shopping in downtown Arvada, a Denver suburb, when he heard Ronald Troyke ambush and murder Officer Gordon Beesley, who was responding to a call, officials said. After shooting Beesley twice, Troyke shot out the windows of police cars in the city’s downtown district, returned to his truck to get an AR-15 and was confronted by Hurley, who shot him with a handgun. When an officer arrived, Hurley was holding Troyke’s AR-15 and the officer opened fire, police said.
“He (Hurley) did not hesitate; he didn’t stand there and think about it. He totally heard the gunfire, went to the door, saw the shooter and immediately ran in that direction,” Bill Troyanos, who works at the Army Navy Surplus store in downtown Arvada, told Denver news station KMGH-TV. Hurley’s family said they were thankful for support from the city and police and were waiting for the outcome of a third-party investigation into the shooting that killed the 40-year-old.
Police revealed Friday that a document written by Troyke said he planned to kill as many Arvada police officers as he could, including saying, “We the people were never your enemy, but we are now” and “This is what you get, you are the people who are expendable.” The unnamed cop who gunned down Hurley was placed on administrative leave as independent law enforcement agencies investigate whether he should be charged with a crime.
the officer that shot the hero was not properly trained possession of a firearm does not equal a threat