Trans-identifying male killed by cops after stabbing customer at Colorado Dairy Queen

A transgender-identifying male accused of stabbing a customer at a Colorado Dairy Queen was shot by law enforcement after fleeing the scene and crashing into multiple vehicles.

The incident occurred on Friday at around 6:30 pm, when police were called to a person with a knife inside the restaurant. Officers with the Grand Junction Police Department confronted the suspect, who has since been identified as 31-year-old Patti Wilson.

According to a report by Western Slope Now, a witness said, “There’s a customer going crazy in there. He stabbed someone, got shot, but kept driving, fled the cops and caused an accident. And the last thing I expected to hear … I just didn’t expect any of it.”

The situation reportedly escalated after Wilson became belligerent over a soda and had earlier failed to pay for food. He then allegedly brandished a knife and stabbed a customer who was trying to defend the employees.

Wilson was described by multiple callers as a male. However, the sheriff’s office investigation found that Wilson preferred to be referred to with female pronouns.

”The suspect fled in the vehicle, crashing into another vehicle while exiting the business parking lot,” the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. “The suspect vehicle eventually stopped after striking multiple vehicles west of the intersection at First Street and North Avenue.”

Two other individuals were taken to the hospital, one with knife wounds and another with injuries due to the car crash. The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing, and more information will become available throughout the course of the investigation, “with sensitivity to the ongoing case.”

In the corner’s report, Wilson was referred to as a “female” and not a male due to a Colorado law that prohibits “misgendering” the dead. House Bill 25-1109, enacted last year after being signed into law by Governor Jared Polis, legally requires death certificates to reflect a person’s “gender identity” and not their biological sex.

Western Slope Now also reported that a witness described him as having mental problems. “Well, I found out my niece knew the guy,” said Otis Taylor, who was a witness. “He has mental problems. So, she knew him. I mean, I guess she talked to him once in a while.”