COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office on Monday identified the man who allegedly exchanged gunfire with an officer during a traffic stop Saturday night and who fled from police on foot after a crash that followed.
Randy Bishop, 35, is wanted on a warrant for an attempted murder charge in connection with Saturday’s incident, as well as from an incident in December in which he was accused of assaulting a Colorado Springs Police Department detective and taking the detective’s weapon, the sheriff’s office said Monday.
Police stopped Bishop in a car near Galley Road and Arrawanna Street around 11:57 p.m. Saturday for having expired license plates. During the stop, Bishop allegedly fired a weapon at officers, at least one of whom returned fire at Bishop, according to police.
He drove away from the scene of the stop and shooting and eventually got into a crash at the intersection of Pikes Peak Ave. and Dunsmere Street, after which he fled on foot. He had not been found by authorities as of Monday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office said that in addition to the Saturday incident, Bishop also escaped custody of the CSPD detective at Memorial Hospital in December. The sheriff’s office said he and the detective got into “a physical altercation,” that Bishop assaulted the detective and got control of the detective’s firearm and fired at least one shot.
Court records show he has outstanding warrants from a robbery in November and a kidnapping and assault case from last June as well.
The sheriff’s office said Bishop should be considered armed and “extremely” dangerous. It said that the investigation into Bishop is ongoing and asked anyone with information about him or the incidents in which he was allegedly involved to call 911 or the sheriff’s office’s tip line at 719-520-6666.
