July 29, 2024 – CBI – Crestone, CO – The suspect killed in a fatal shooting by a Saguache County Sheriff Deputy last week has been identified as 40-year old Jonathan Aaron Wood.
On Thursday July 25, 2024, at approximately 12:00 p.m. a Saguache County sheriff deputy was driving near the town of Crestone, Colorado to serve papers when he observed Mr. Wood walking about a mile from the entrance of the Baca Grande Subdivision. The deputy recognized Wood as having active warrants.
The deputy attempted to talk with Mr. Wood when Jonathan Wood began attacking the deputy with a 4-foot metal pipe. The deputy pulled out his service weapon and fired twice, hitting the suspect. The deputy immediately began performing life-saving measures but Wood was pronounced deceased at the scene. The deputy was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released for minor injuries.
At the time of the shooting, Wood was wanted for wanted for a felony warrant in Saguache County for Assault on a Peace Officer and a misdemeanor warrant in Mineral County for Damaged Property/Criminal Mischief.
The felony warrant was related to a series of events on August 11, 2023. Neighbors had called 911 because they said Wood was acting erratically and in a threatening manner with a four-foot wooden stick. Neighbors reported Wood was insisting he could hear voices screaming for help from his neighbor’s shed and then from inside the neighbor’s home after neighbors opened the shed to show Mr. Wood no one was inside.
When deputies later attempted to speak to Mr. Wood, he threatened deputies with the wooden stick and allegedly punched a deputy in the head. Wood’s failure to later appear in court on that assault charge is what led to the outstanding warrant and his fatal confrontation with a deputy on July 25.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is now assisting the Saguache County Sheriff’s Office into the investigation of the fatal shooting. The deputy involved activated his body-cam and the footage is being reviewed by investigators. The deputy has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.
