UPDATE | Aug. 21 — The stabbing of a seasonal park ranger at Staunton State Park on Tuesday was an "elaborate hoax," authorities said, and that ranger, who remains in the hospital, was arrested on several charges. Updated story here.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A Colorado Parks and Wildlife seasonal ranger was stabbed by a suspect at Staunton State Park in what authorities now believe was a "targeted attack" as the search for the suspect continues.
Nobody is in custody as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
All visitors were evacuated from the park, CPW said. The park is located along S. Elk Creek Road in Pine, about five miles west of Conifer.
Around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the seasonal park ranger called the Jeffcom 911 dispatch communications center to say he had been in contact with a person at the state park and that there had been an altercation, said Jacki Kelley, public information officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
For some time, there was just radio silence as authorities tried to contact the ranger. When they were able to connect over the radio again, the park ranger said he had been stabbed.
"He (the park ranger) gave a description of the suspect, who had run off into the woods," Kelley said. "And we sent the troops."
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said its deputies responded to the park.
Deputies were able to quickly find the park ranger, who had been stabbed in the torso with a knife near the Staunton Rocks climbing area, and he was brought to an AirLife helicopter and then to a nearby hospital. He underwent surgery and is now "doing pretty well," Kelley said.
The suspect is described as a white man standing about 6 feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds. He was wearing a plain gray shirt and blue jeans. The sheriff's office said he appears to be in his early 30s and has brown hair. He has no facial hair.
The suspect is considered dangerous, so anybody who sees him is asked to call 911. He is wanted on a charge of attempted murder, Kelley said.
A search on the ground, as well as from the air, is underway, the sheriff's office said.
Kelley said two people of interest were brought in to talk with investigators. Both have been cleared and were not involved in the incident, the sheriff's office said at 5 p.m.
"We have reason to believe this was a targeted attack and there is no ongoing threat to the community," the sheriff's office said in that update.
A Lookout Alert was sent to 8,600 homes in the area, Kelley said. The shelter-in-place order for the area just outside the park was lifted a few minutes before 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Multiple schools in the area were on lockout, meaning students were inside and nobody was allowed to come in. The impacted schools included Elk Creek Elementary, West Jefferson Middle, Conifer High, Rocky Mountain Academy and West Jefferson Elementary.
"This could not be more serious than it is," Kelley said. "... All the resources we can possibly throw at this right now, we are."
Colorado State Patrol, the Golden Police Department, Arvada Police Department, Lakeside Police Department, AirLife, the regional SWAT team and others responded to the scene.
The park was closed Tuesday. It is set to reopen Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.
Denver7's Maggy Wolanske spoke with Kasey Pickren, who moved to Elk Falls Ranch a few weeks ago, seeking a quiet mountain town.
"We're literally right next to the state park," she explained. "So, the main road to the neighborhood actually butts up against the state park."
Earlier Tuesday morning, she left her home for an appointment and was stopped by a deputy who wanted to look inside her car, which she called "really alarming." Shortly afterward, she received an alert on her phone about the stabbing.
"It’s way scary — it's very, very scary," Pickren said. "This is not typical for this area, not typical for this neighborhood or the people that live here. So, it's very, very disconcerting... It definitely makes you think twice. I love to go for a walk out in nature by myself. I love to go for a hike and just zone out and take things in. And to think that I can't do that is, you know, it's not a good feeling."
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