In a bizarre chain reaction, Black Hawk, Colorado police say a motorcyclist was shot in the chest when a gun he was carrying went off as a hit-and-run car struck the motorcycle.
Officials say the hit-and-run happened about 10:15 a.m.
A four-door Chevrolet sedan hit the motorcycle and the rider was thrown to the ground, Police Chief Stephen Cole told 7NEWS. The impact of the collision caused a handgun the motorcyclist was carrying to fire, shooting the rider in the chest.
The Chevy driver fled the scene. The motorcyclist, a 60-year-old Pennsylvania man, suffered serious injuries and was rushed by ambulance to a Denver hospital. Police recovered the handgun at the scene, Cole said.
Gilpin County sheriff's deputies later found the Chevy sedan abandoned at a campground north of Black Hawk. The driver, a white man in his 30s or 40s, ran from the car. He was wearing a black T-shirt and black shorts.
Police arrested the hit-and-run suspect about 1:30 p.m. after he was spotted near Highway 119 and Gap Road north of town.
During the search for the driver, authorities sent emergency telephone notifications to residents in the area.
