By Robert Allen
robertallen@coloradoan.com
Ben Haskew, 36, is identified as the Berthoud man shot and killed early Tuesday morning after opening fire on a Larimer County Sheriff's Office SWAT team, according to a report from the Larimer County Coroner.
"It was two shots -- bang, bang," said neighbor John Hawley, adding that about five more were fired in quick succession. "Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang."
The SWAT officers were called at about 11 p.m. Monday to assist Berthoud police officers in the 700 block of Bruce Drive, on a report of domestic violence involving a man with a gun, according to a news release from the district attorney's office.
SWAT negotiators were talking with the man when he came out of the home and opened fire, according to the news release.
The SWAT team returned fire, striking Haskew, who was pronounced dead at 2:24 a.m. at Medical Center of the Rockies. No officers were injured. The district attorney's office declined to specify when the shooting occurred.
Haskew died of homicide by multiple gunshot wounds, according to the report.
Hawley, who lives a few houses away on Bruce Drive, said he heard the gunshots at about 1:50 a.m.
"The guy was always very friendly," he said. "When he drove by, he always waved."
Hawley said his neighbors residents had been living in the house for roughly four years.
Shortly before Haskew was shot, officers discussed on their radios how they could see him walking around outside carrying a "long gun" with an attached flashlight. A few minutes later, he was shot, according to a recording of the radio communications.
"Shots fired, suspect is down. Shots fired, suspect is down," yelled one of the officers over the radio shortly around 2 a.m.
Within moments of Haskew being shot, officers announced they were unhurt and began arranging for him to be transported to the hospital.
The incident is being investigated by members of the Berthoud Police Department, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State University Police Department, and the district attorney's office. The name of the deceased will be released by the Larimer County Coroner’s Office later today pending notification of family.
CSU officials said a university police officer was a member of the SWAT team and was involved in the shooting.
The names of officers involved will be released by the individual agencies at a later time.
Nearby residents of three homes all said they didn't know the name of the man who lived at the house where the shooting occurred. One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said the home's residents seemed "always seemed to me pretty quiet."
Hawley and others said they would often see the man outside cutting firewood.
Haskew's facebook page lists him as "Ben Redneck Haskew" who graduated from Lyons High School in 1993.
He is listed as married, and his interests include the activities of "Shooting, Guns, Hunting, Firearms..." as well as television programs "CSI, God in America PBS." He has 456 friends, according to facebook.com
His "likes" include God, Sarah Palin, U.S. Army Strong and "Death Penalty for Cop-Killers," among many others, according to facebook.com.
Haskew is an unaffiliated voter who submitted a ballot in the Nov. 2 election, according to Larimer County's online voter registration.
Coloradoan reporter Trevor Hughes contributed to this story.
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