An officer shot into their house, but police are keeping quiet

Mike and Sue Kennedy were watching television Saturday night when a bullet fired by a Colorado Springs police officer pierced their living room wall and passed between their heads.

They'd like to know why it happened - but they're not getting answers.

Three days later, police won't disclose what caused an officer to fire his service pistol as he chased a man in the 2800 block of Casden Circle in east Colorado Springs. Police won't say if the man the officer was pursuing had a weapon, nor will they identify the officer.

"They just told me they couldn't say too much," Mike Kennedy said.

Police spokesman Lt. Skip Arms said no further details will be released until the case is reviewed by the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

The 9 mm round from the officer's Smith & Wesson hit 44 inches from the floor and passed between their chairs. Had the bullet been a foot and a half in either direction, Kennedy said, one of them would have been hit in the head.

"It went past us and into the opposite wall," Kennedy said. "I'd say there was maybe 30 inches between my wife and I."

The shooting occurred about 9:30 p.m. Saturday after the officer tried to pull over a vehicle traveling south on Circle Drive without its headlights on.

Instead of stopping, the vehicle pulled into an alley in the 2800 block of Pikes Peak Avenue, where the driver and the passenger jumped out, police said.

The passenger, a man, ignored orders to stop and ran into the backyard of a nearby house, with the officer in pursuit. The officer fired a single shot, which hit the Kennedys' house.

The man was found hiding in the front yard of a house on Casden Circle. He was questioned but released. The driver is being sought.

Mike Kennedy said that he and his wife hope the city will pay to fix the damage but haven't heard from anyone yet.

They were scared, but won't be moving any time soon, he said.

"This is our retirement home, even if there is a hole in it," he said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com