The Associated Press
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) -- A man suspected of shooting a state trooper during a traffic stop near Cortez was moved to Denver Health Medical Center and has been upgraded to fair condition, hospital officials said Monday.
Brent David Derrick, 26-year-old Texas fugitive, had been listed in serious condition Sunday at St. Mary’s Hospital. It was unclear when he was transferred to Denver.
Derrick, who apparently shot himself, was arrested three hours after allegedly shooting trooper Chris Cutrone. He was captured after his car went into a reservoir north of Towaoc on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation.
Cutrone remained in critical condition Monday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction. He had been upgraded to serious from critical condition after the shooting Thursday, but he was downgraded back to critical late Saturday, said hospital spokeswoman Kim Williams.
The Cortez-based trooper, a canine handler, was shot after he pulled over a car on U.S. 160 south of Cortez, the State Patrol said.
Authorities said Derrick was driving a car stolen out of Texas. He is wanted on several felony warrants, including assault on a Randall County sheriff’s deputy in Amarillo, Texas.
State Patrol spokesman James Wolfinbarger said Derrick could face charges including attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer in Colorado. He said the suspect would likely face those charges before any others in Texas.