On Thursday, September 24, 2020 at approximately 12:54 p.m., members of the Longmont Police Department CORE Unit and the Colorado State Parole attempted contact with Leon Gladwell, a parolee (age 40) living at the Residence Inn, 1450 Dry Creek Rd., Longmont, CO. Officers had information that Gladwell was afraid he was going to hurt someone. They also had information that he had knives and propane tanks in this room.

Officers attempted contact with Gladwell near his room. During this contact, was angry, uncooperative and armed with several knives. Parole collected the knives and Gladwell moved to his room and refused to cooperate further. In an attempt to deescalate the situation, officers discontinued their contact and the Colorado State Parole obtained a felony arrest warrant for Gladwell.

After verifying Gladwell was still in the room, officers, CORE and Longmont SWAT returned to the Residence Inn to arrest Gladwell. During the second contact, Gladwell refused requests to exit his room. At approximately 7:21 p.m., Gladwell detonated an unknown explosive device, which created a fireball in the room, activated the fire sprinklers and blew out two windows of the third floor room. This explosion caused extensive damage to the hotel, the room, endangered the lives of guests, hotel employees and officers.

Officers continued to negotiate a surrender, but Gladwell refused to exit. At approximately 8:45 pm, Gladwell approached the blown out third floor window with what was believed to be a propane tank, and was shot by a perimeter officer. Gladwell moved out of sight and continued to refuse to exit. At 11:45 pm., after continuous attempts to negotiate a surrender, surveillance determined Gladwell was incapacitated. Officers entered the room and took Gladwell into custody without further incident. Gladwell was transported to an area hospital with at least one gunshot wound.

Gladwell had served a 1998 prison sentence for murdering his grandmother in Boulder, and was recently released on parole.

Investigators and the Boulder County Regional Bomb Squad will be on scene throughout the night. The involved Longmont officer has been placed on administrative leave, per department policy, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Longmont Department of Public Safety’s Co-Responder program, called Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE), is a specialized unit which is comprised of a behavioral health clinician, a paramedic and a specially trained police officer, who respond to 911 calls for service that indicate a mental illness or substance use issue.

This case remains under investigation. As in any investigation, the suspect is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

The Boulder County Investigations Team for the 20th Judicial District is investigating this case. This multi-agency team is designated to investigate incidents in which any law enforcement officer within the 20th Judicial District uses physical or deadly force against a person while acting under official law enforcement duties.

The Boulder County Critical Incident Team quickly responded to Longmont and will be conducting an extremely thorough investigation. Consistent with the Boulder County protocol, the Longmont Police Department will not participate in the investigation.