Man Arrested After Fatal Shooting in Colorado Property Dispute

DENVER (AP) — A man was captured Tuesday after evading authorities for 25 hours following a fatal shooting that left three people dead and one critically wounded in a property dispute in rural Colorado. The suspect, identified as Hanme K. Clark, 45, was apprehended by New Mexico State Police near Albuquerque, according to a statement released by the Custer County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado on Tuesday afternoon. Although a weapon was found in Clark’s pickup truck, it is yet to be determined if it was the same weapon used in the slayings, said Officer Wilson Silver with the New Mexico State Police.

Neighbours not involved in the shooting have accused Clark of harassment, denying them court-ordered access to part of his property, and displaying signs indicating he was armed, according to court records. The incident occurred on Monday afternoon when a surveyor was working on a property owned by Rob Geers near Clark’s property, located near Westcliffe, approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Colorado Springs. The town is nestled in a valley between two mountain ranges and is characterized by a mix of farms, ranches, and vacation homes.

The surveyor reported to investigators that Clark approached them, shouting about trespassing, before opening fire. The surveyor managed to escape and sought refuge in a nearby home, roughly half a mile away, according to Clark’s arrest affidavit.

Patty Daulton, who sustained injuries in the shooting, called 911 and reported that she believed her husband and two others had been shot to death. Gunshots were audible in the background of the distress call, as stated in the affidavit.

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The victims have been identified as Rob Geers, 63, his wife Beth Wade Geers, 73, and James Daulton, 58, Patty Daulton’s husband, according to officials from Custer County. Patty Daulton is currently receiving treatment at a trauma center, the officials added.

Both the Daultons and the Geers owned properties neighboring Clark’s, Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith revealed. Court records in the shooting case revealed that Rob Geers had previously accused Clark of trespassing on his land on four separate occasions. On November 17, Geers alleged that a hidden camera captured an image of a man dressed in hunting gear, with a covered face, carrying a rifle on his land, who he believed to be Clark. Geers also claimed that Clark and his girlfriend had been harassing and trespassing on his property, and he expressed concern over the presence of a weapon.

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Smith stated that while the property dispute had led sheriff’s deputies to the area multiple times in recent years, there was no indication that it would escalate into violence.

A week prior to the shooting, another landowner in the area filed a request for Clark to be held in contempt of a court order issued in June 2022. The court order had granted them access to cross Clark’s property to reach their own land.

Clark had previously been accused of padlocking a gate and displaying a sign near the gate that read “the owner of this property is armed,” according to Kevin Flesch, an attorney representing one of the defendants who lost their easement access.

Easements, which grant legal rights to cross someone else’s land, are often crucial in rural American communities like this one, where property boundaries, established soon after the Civil War, may not always be as clearly defined as in urban areas, Smith explained. Consequently, sheriff’s deputies respond to property disputes almost daily.

Clark is a part-owner of a business called Herbal Gardens Wellness, according to Sheriff Smith. The business’s website states that it is dedicated to promoting health and well-being through the use of herbal remedies.

In the aftermath of the shooting, authorities in Westcliffe, a town with a population of approximately 500 people, enlisted the help of other agencies and conducted a search of the surrounding woods and buildings for Clark, utilizing night vision equipment. Residents were advised to remain indoors during the search. However, authorities later discovered that Clark had likely fled the area before their arrival, as his vehicle was spotted in Salida, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) away. This prompted another shelter-in-place order for Salida residents, while authorities continued their search for Clark with the assistance of drones and a Denver police helicopter.

It remains unclear whether Clark has legal representation at this time. A message left for the lawyer who represented Clark in the easement lawsuit was not immediately returned.

This shooting incident adds to the growing number of mass shootings that have occurred across the country in recent days.

On Monday night, four individuals were wounded when a gunman opened fire in a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, before apparently taking his own life, according to police reports.

On Sunday, a Tennessee man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while on the run following a series of shootings that claimed the lives of four of his female relatives.

The Memphis Police Department announced that during a search following the shootings at three different locations in Memphis, the body of Mavis Christian Jr., 52, was discovered in his car. The shootings left three women and a teenage girl dead, while another teenage girl was left in critical condition.

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Reporting by Hanson in Helena, Montana.