Pueblo police release bodycam of the suspect shooting at officers, then being fatally shot

Pueblo police released body and dash camera footage Monday that showed a suspect firing a pistol at police officers before they shot and killed him in a Popeyes parking lot on June 19.

Officers were called to the 1400 block of West U.S. Highway 50 at approximately 7:45 p.m. that day on a report of a man with a weapon, according to an initial news release from the Pueblo Police Department.

During a news conference Monday morning, police released the recording of a call from a concerned citizen to police dispatch stating they saw a man pointing a gun out of a black Dodge Dart outside of a nearby business. In the recorded phone call, the caller also identified the license plate on the vehicle.

Police located the vehicle a short time later outside of Popeyes on U.S. 50.

In the body cam footage released by Pueblo PD, officers could be seen and heard issuing loud verbal commands to the suspect to put his hands up and stop reaching for items in the vehicle. After approximately a minute and a half, one officer's body camera footage shows gunfire coming through the windshield of the driver's seat of the cornered Dodge Dart.

The officer can be seen scrambling for partial cover before returning fire with his service pistol. Muzzle flashes can be seen from other officers around the vehicle.

Another angle from a vehicle dash camera on a nearby cruiser clearly shows the suspect pulling out a handgun and opening fire on police, before being shot in return.

The suspect has been identified by the Pueblo County Coroner's Office as Ronald Ray Valdez, 34, of Pueblo.

EMTs were called to the scene to render aid to Valdez, but he was declared dead on the scene.

Bullet impacts were documented in a patrol car near officers. A Taurus handgun, which had been reported stolen in mid-April, according to police, was recovered from the suspect's vehicle along with six shell casings and drug paraphernalia consistent with fentanyl and opioids, according to police.

Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller alleged that when the incident occurred, Valdez was awaiting sentencing on a felony drug distribution case.