Fatal shooting suspects identified
ALAMOSA — The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) on Tuesday evening released the names of the suspects who died and the officer involved in a shooting occurring Saturday, August 25 on Highway 17 north of Alamosa.
Following family notifications by the Alamosa County Coroner, CBI named the suspects as Nelson Billings, 26, of Lavaca, Texas, and Jennifer Sharp, 37, also of Lavaca, Texas. Both Billings and Sharp may have been living in the Moffat area at the time of the incident. They were in a stolen vehicle and were involved in a lengthy pursuit with law enforcement on Saturday morning.
Also on Tuesday evening, CSP released the name of the trooper involved in the incident as Trooper Ramiro Contreras who has been with the CSP since 2007. Trooper Contreras was placed on paid administrative leave per policy.
CBI is continuing to investigate the officer-involved shooting.
At the completion of the investigation by CBI agents, case information will be forwarded to the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for its review.
The incident began just before 10 a.m. on Saturday when Saguache County deputies attempted to contact the driver and passenger of a stolen vehicle in Moffat. The deputies initiated the pursuit and were later joined by a Colorado State Patrol trooper and an Alamosa County deputy.
During the course of the pursuit along several county roads Sharp brandished a shotgun. The stolen vehicle was stopped on Highway 17 after a CSP sergeant successfully deployed stop sticks. Both Sharp and Billings got out of the vehicle with the shotgun and may have been heading toward another vehicle that had pulled over to yield to the pursuit.
The CSP trooper fired multiple rounds toward the suspects. At least one of the suspects fired a weapon.
It is believed that Billings, who had been driving the stolen vehicle, shot himself. Both suspects were pronounced dead at the scene.
There were no injuries to law enforcement during the incident.
Caption: Scene of the Saturday incident/Photo by Sylvia Lobato