A suspect who was accused by Thornton police of pointing a weapon at them and then stealing a vehicle during an incident last week that led several schools to be placed on security alert was found dead inside a Westminster apartment Wednesday night, Westminster police said.

Raymond Quintana was wanted on suspicion of first-degree assault, felony menacing, burglary and motor vehicle theft.

According to police, Westminster and Thornton officers were serving an arrest warrant for Quintana on Wednesday afternoon related to an April 9 incident in Thornton.

During that incident last week, Quintana allegedly pointed a handgun at officers when they responded to a report of a burglary and felony menacing near East 97th Avenue and Welby Road. Police said the suspect ran to a vehicle and drove off, with officers in pursuit.

The suspect crashed his vehicle near East 115th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, and officers tried to take Quintana into custody when he again pointed a gun. Police fired on the suspect, who stole a Jeep SUV and fled the scene, officials said.

After days of searching for Quintana, Westminster and Thornton police arrived at a residential unit at Edgewood Apartments, at 69th Avenue and Stuart Street in Westminster, on Wednesday night to serve an arrest warrant, according to the Westminster Police Department’s Twitter account.

The surrounding area was under a shelter-in-place order as police and the Westminster SWAT team tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender.

Nearly three hours later, negotiations broke down between Quintana and police, officials said, and the SWAT team entered the apartment. Quintana was found dead inside, and officers were not injured nor did they use their weapons, Westminster police tweeted at around 11:25 p.m. Wednesday.

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