Man arrested in Redlands shootings, burglaries

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KREX) – A suspect is in custody after reports of shots fired and burglary Sunday morning.

Around 1:28 a.m., Mesa County deputies responded to the 400 block of 23 Road for a call of burglary and shots fired. An individual in the church reported a man allegedly broke into the building and fired several rounds at him, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.

MCSO deputies and Grand Junction Police Department officers – who were in the area – surrounded the building. They noticed the front door and a window was shattered. After this observation, a shelter-in-place notice to homes in a one-block radius of the building while authorities searched for the suspect.

Around 2 a.m., multiple gunshots were heard in the 500 block of 23 Road, according to the sheriff’s office. Dispatch got a call from residents saying the suspect broke into their house and fired rounds at the homeowners. The residents returned fire before the suspect fled the home.

Mesa County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team was deployed to the house and extricated the homeowners out of precaution, MCSO said. Another shelter-in-place was sent to homes within a mile of the 500 block of 23 Road.

Not long after, a homeowner – who woke up to the shelter-in-place notice – called dispatch, saying a male matching the suspect’s description was checking car door handles on the 2300 block of South Rim Drive.

MCSO deputies, GJPD officers and the Colorado State Patrol surrounded the suspect and took him into custody without incident. The suspect was identified as Grand Junction resident Dakota Mortensen, 22.

He is currently being held at the Mesa County Detention Facility on these charges:

Three counts of menacing with a real/simulated weapon
Three counts of second-degree reckless assault with serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon
Three counts of criminal attempt
Two counts of burglary with assaults, menaces or armed
Two counts of criminal mischief ranging from $2,000-$5,000
Impersonating a police officer
Three counts of reckless endangerment
Two counts of prohibited use of weapons

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