3 dead in suspected murder-suicide in Firestone

Firestone, Colorado – A suspected murder-suicide left three people dead early Saturday morning in a Firestone subdivision.

The incident, which led to a three-and-a-half hour standoff and prompted the partial evacuation of the Eagle Crest subdivision in Firestone, ended after members of the Weld County Regional SWAT team entered the residence at about 9:15 a.m. on Saturday to find the three people involved already dead.

Firestone police first learned of the incident at 5:37 a.m. Saturday morning when the 24-year-old daughter of Sharla Acker, 41, called 9-1-1 after hearing a single gun shot while in her mother’s house on the 10000 block of Barron Circle in Firestone, according to Weld County Coroner Chris Robillard. Less than 10 minutes later, Firestone police were on scene working to get Sharla Acker’s daughter and 3-year-old grandson out of the house through a window, Robillard said.

The daughter and grandson were unharmed.

Police then evacuated a quarter of the subdivision and closed entrances into the subdivision until 11 a.m. in the event that a man had barricaded himself inside the residence.

Robillard, however, said the incident likely ended shortly after it began — with Sharla Acker’s ex-husband Michael Acker, 47, of Commerce City, suspected of using a shotgun to kill Sharla Acker and her boyfriend Michael Frederico, 38.

Michael Acker and Sharla Acker divorced in fall 2008, Robillard said. The incident is still under investigation and autopsies are planned for today. More on Greeley Tribune