An ICE officer fired three shots into the vehicle and the suspects – who agency officials said are in the country illegally – fled the scene and later abandoned the vehicle. No injuries were reported.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office issued a shelter-in-place order for the 9900 block of Burgess Road and the surrounding quarter mile in Black Forest at 10:25 a.m. and urged people to secure their home or business and stay away from doors and windows.

Sheriff’s officials also closed Black Forest Road near Burgess Road “for the foreseeable future.”

In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said federal immigration officers have seen an 830% increase in assaults.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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The female mountain lion kitten was orphaned in June 2024 and rescued by district wildlife manager Andy Brown, CPW officials said on social media this week.

Brown took the cub to the Pauline S. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation facility in Silt, where she lived for more than a year before growing big enough she could be released back into the wild like any normal mountain lion that leaves its mom.

CPW staff released the mountain lion back into southwest Colorado, and videos and photos of the release show the predator wanted nothing to do with humans – which is a very good sign for a rehabilitated animal, state officials said.

After taking a less-than-graceful tumble out of a cage, CPW staff watched her return to her home.

After the mountain lion had been given a reversal drug to counteract the tranqulizer, she took a short ride to be released into good mountain lion habitat in southwest Colorado.

Watch as DWM Brown opens the lion trap and she tornadoes out of the truck. pic.twitter.com/zFdD8fgFgY

— CPW SW Region (@CPW_SW) July 29, 2025

“While the release wasn’t the smoothest ever, it is truly good to see that this mountain lion wanted nothing to do with humans, did not associate us with food and wanted to get away from us as quickly as she could,” state officials said in a post on social media. “This mountain lion now has a second chance to survive in the wild.”

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The stabbing happened near North Broadway and East Colfax Avenue at 10 p.m. July 13, according to the Denver Police Department.

The victim died from his injuries Tuesday, agency officials said Wednesday.

Police described the suspect as a Black man between 18 and 25 years old. He was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt, gray-tan jeans and white and black basketball shoes. He was also seen carrying a black and gray backpack with yellow zipper tabs.

Anyone with information about the case canmay contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.

#Denver, do you recognize this suspect? If so, call @CrimeStoppersCO at 720-913-STOP(7867). Tipsters can remain anonymous and earn a cash reward! pic.twitter.com/PmtY7Rf80Y

— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) July 30, 2025

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Sheriff Todd Rowell released an administrative review of what happened before and after Mesa County Investigator Alex Zwinck pulled over a Utah college student on Interstate 70 near Fruita in June.

Zwinck shared information about Caroline Dias Goncalves in a Signal chat with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents, who then used it to arrest Dias Goncalves a short time later. She was detained by ICE for more than two weeks.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser last week sued Zwinck, alleging the sheriff’s official knowingly assisted in federal immigration enforcement by sharing information about Dias Goncalves.

Zwinck and four other deputies and supervisors face discipline ranging from unpaid leave and reassignment to verbal counseling for their actions, Rowell announced Wednesday.

Dias Goncalves, 19, is a student at the University of Utah and immigrated to the U.S. from Brazil with her family when she was 7, later overstaying a tourist visa. She and her family have a pending application for asylum, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Zwinck pulled her over for following a semitrailer too closely and, after letting her go with a warning, shared her vehicle description and direction of travel with immigration officials after they said they were heading to his location, according to text messages released by the sheriff’s office.

After the federal agents confirmed they had detained her, Zwinck congratulated the agents on her arrest by texting “Nice work,” the records show.

Rowell said he could not release the full group chat because it was created by federal law enforcement, but called on federal officials to make it public.

“The group chat clearly shows Colorado State Patrol troopers, who are prohibited from sharing personal identifying information with ICE under SB 21-131 enacted June 25, 2021, and other local law enforcement agents, subject to SB 25-276, engaging in conduct similar to Deputy Zwinck’s,” Rowell said in the news release.

CSP no longer shares information

State troopers no longer share information in the Signal chat as of June 18, Colorado State Patrol Chief Matthew Packard said in a statement Wednesday.

“We respect Mesa County Sheriff Rowell’s corrective actions, but believe his judgments regarding the patrol are misinformed and premature,” Packard said.

The state patrol does not use Signal chats anywhere else in the state, Trooper Sherri Mendez told The Denver Post. Troopers use a secure messaging platform, Evertel, for instant messaging and do not use it with federal law enforcement partners.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and the Vail Police Department also participated in the Signal chat with federal agents, according to the sheriff’s investigation.

Rowell also called for Weiser to either drop his case against Zwinck or file similar lawsuits against other state and local officials who have violated state law by sharing information with federal immigration officials – including Gov. Jared Polis.

Weiser has refused to speak with Rowell and did not notify the agency of the civil lawsuit, despite Mesa County keeping his office in the loop on the administrative review, Rowell said.

“As it stands, the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office sends a demoralizing message to law enforcement officers across Colorado — that the law may be wielded selectively and publicly for maximum political effect rather than applied fairly and consistently,” Rowell said.

A spokesperson for Weiser said other law enforcement agencies are also under investigation for “a pattern or practice of civil rights violations.”

“The Mesa County sheriff has a job to do to investigate and discipline his employees. The attorney general has a duty to enforce state laws and protect Coloradans and will continue to do so,” spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco said.

Mesa County sheriff takes responsibility

At the beginning of his statement, Rowell took full responsibility for the incident and apologized to Dias Goncalves.

“Based on our findings, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office should not have had any role in the chain of events leading to Miss Dias Goncalves’s detention, and I regret that this occurred,” he said.

While sheriff’s office leaders had previously spoken with Homeland Security officials to ensure deputies would not be involved in immigration enforcement, “the administrative review showed that those lines of collaboration were crossed,” Rowell said.

Mesa County deputies were previously informed by command staff that they were not allowed to arrest anyone for a civil immigration detainer and should not call HSI or ICE if they arrested someone they suspected was not a U.S. citizen, according to records released Wednesday.

But the internal investigation showed Zwinck gave federal agents more information about the people he was pulling over after learning they wanted to detain them for civil immigration violations.

On June 3, two days before pulling over Dias Goncalves, Zwinck handcuffed someone at the request of a Homeland Security officer during a traffic stop.

On June 10, while giving federal agents the location where he stopped someone from Mexico who had potentially overstayed his visa, he told the agents, “Oh my gosh. We better get some (expletive) Christmas baskets from you guys,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Zwinck was placed on unpaid leave for three weeks, removed from the Western Colorado Drug Task Force and reassigned to a patrol team for violating sheriff’s office policies.

Deputy Erik Olson, who was also part of the Signal chat, was also put on unpaid leave for two weeks, removed from the drug task force and reassigned to a patrol team.

Sgt. Joe LeMoine was suspended without pay for two days, Lt. David Holdren received a letter of reprimand and Capt. Curtis Brammer was given verbal counseling.

Mesa County Sheriff’s Office staff have since received in-depth training on SB 25-276 and will receive additional training about state laws involving immigration, Rowell said.

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The flood warning includes Florence, Cañon City, Penrose and Royal Gorge.

Update 3:42 p.m.: Three flash flood warnings have been issued for parts of El Paso County.

The warnings from the National Weather Service alert residents in the Colorado Springs, Broadmoor, Manitou Springs, Monument, Palmer Lake, Black Forest, Falcon and Pikeview areas to be prepared to move immediately to higher ground and to avoid walking or driving through flood waters.

The warning for the Colorado Springs area is in effect until 6:15 p.m. and the warning for the Black Forest and Falcon area is in effect until 6:30 p.m. The warning for Palmer Lake and Monument ends at 6 p.m.

There is also a flash flood warning for Saguache County, near the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, in effect until 6:15 p.m., and another for parts of the county near Crestone, in effect until 6 p.m.

Update 11:20 a.m.: Heavy rain may bring flooding and mudslides to parts of metro Denver and the Front Range on Wednesday, according to a flood threat bulletin issued by the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

Parts of Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, Weld, El Paso, Elbert, Teller, Park, Lincoln, Fremont, Pueblo, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero and Washington counties are under a high flood threat because they may get over 2 inches of rain per hour, state officials said.

“High rainfall rates may cause debris slides and mud flows over the steep terrain as well as excessive runoff,” forecasters said in the bulletin. “Other threats include ponding in low-lying areas, road flooding and rises on local creeks and stream.”

Most of the flooding risk will occur before 10 p.m.

Other communities are facing a moderate flood risk, including Jefferson, Broomfield, Boulder, Larimer, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Custer, Huerfano and Las Animas counties. Folks in those counties could see over an inch of rain per hour.

Original story: Rain showers and thunderstorms across Colorado on Wednesday could cause flash flooding, especially south of Denver, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms will start in Colorado’s mountains in the morning and spread across the Front Range and Eastern Plains through the afternoon, forecasters said.

Flooding is possible along the Palmer Divide and across the Eastern Plains, according to a hazardous weather outlook from the weather service.

Parts of Douglas, Lincoln, Elbert, El Paso, Las Animas, Pueblo and Teller counties will be under a flood watch, forecasters said Wednesday morning.

That flood watch, which starts at 1 p.m. Wednesday and has no listed end time, also includes Pikes Peak and multiple mountain ranges.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” forecasters state in the alert. “Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.”

Severe storms threaten to bring large hail more than 1 inch in diameter and damaging wind gusts of at least 50 mph, forecasters said in the hazardous weather outlook.

Rain in Denver is most likely after 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the weather service.

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Tourism contributed $28.5 billion to the state’s economy and supported 188,510 jobs across the state in 2024, both of which are relatively flat compared to 2023, according to numbers released by the Colorado Tourism Office.

While the annual research from Dean Runyan Associates and Longwoods International Travel USA shows tourism is still a big economic driver, “…indicators suggest that increasing competition and uncertainty related to federal policy changes are putting pressure on Colorado’s thriving tourism industry,” state officials said in a news release.

There was a 2% increase in tourists last year, from 93.3 million people in 2023 to 95.4 million in 2024. Most of those were people visiting for a day trip, according to the release.

Other tourist spending increased by a fraction of a percent in Colorado despite being up 4% nationally.

Hotel occupancy was down 2% as of June and the number of people staying in short-term rentals dropped by 10% in the first quarter of the year, state tourism officials said.

“We are committed to bringing forward innovative ways to mitigate these changes while continuing to inspire the world to explore Colorado responsibly and respectfully,” Colorado Tourism Office Director Timothy Wolfe said in a statement.

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The person was safely on the ground as of 6:37 p.m., according to Adams County Fire Rescue.

Colorado State Patrol officials initially said I-76 was also closed in both directions because of the incident, but the highway was open as of 6 p.m., according to CDOT.

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Flash flooding is expected in creeks, streams, streets, highways and urban areas in Pueblo, weather officials said. Emergency officials have already reported ongoing flooding.

Flash flooding is also expected near Boone, the Pueblo Depot and Avondale.

Original story: Thunderstorms moving across Colorado’s Front Range and Eastern Plains could cause life-threatening flash flooding near the Oak Ridge fire burn scar, National Weather Service forecasters said Tuesday.

Heavy rain in east-central Custer County and western Pueblo County will cause flooding and mudslides, including severe debris flows across roads in and near Beulah, officials said.

“Life-threatening flooding of creeks, roads and normally dry arroyos is likely,” National Weather Service officials said. “The heavy rains will likely trigger rockslides, mudslides and debris flows in steep terrain, especially in and around these areas.”

No one should try to cross flooded roads and should climb to safety if encountering flooding, according to the alert. The flash flood warning is active until 8 p.m.

A second flash flood warning is also active for parts of Huerfano and Las Animas counties.

There is also an elevated flood risk across southwest metro Denver communities and beyond through Tuesday night, state officials said.

Sections of Adams, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Teller and Lincoln counties are under a moderate flood threat through 10 p.m. Tuesday, with storms capable of dropping more than 2 inches of rain in an hour, according to the Colorado Flood Threat Bulletin. 

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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Troopers responded to the crash at 11:06 a.m. on U.S. 285 near eastbound Colorado 470, spokesperson Sherri Mendez said. One person was taken to the hospital “as a precaution,” but further information about their condition was not available.

Northbound U.S. 285 was closed near C-470 for nearly three hours, reopening at 1:46 p.m., according to the Colorado Department of Transportation

A photo posted by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office showed a Caliber RV flipped upside down on the highway median.

Troopers are still investigating the cause of the crash, Mendez said.

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Jesus Damian Nieblas, 28, is wanted on suspicion of 28 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, all felonies, and 27 counts of failing to report child abuse or neglect as a mandatory reporter, all misdemeanors.

Nieblas resigned from the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office on June 25 before the CBI started investigating him, the agency said Tuesday. Police searched his Norwood home on July 10 and investigators do not believe he’s still in San Miguel County.

Anyone with information about Nieblas’s location can contact CBI Special Agent Caroline Keevey at 970-248-7500. Tips can remain anonymous.

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