Officer killed and four wounded, including one civilian, in shootout on commuter bus near Denver

A police officer was killed, and three officers were wounded when a gunman opened fire aboard a commuter bus near Denver Thursday night, authorities said.

Police officers responded to a call about a man who was believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run incident earlier on Thursday, the New York Times reported.

The officers found the man boarding a Regional Transportation District Bus at an intersection in Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb in the western part of the Denver metropolitan area.

As police followed the man on the bus, he opened fire on officers, John Romero, a spokesman for the Lakewood Police Department, said in a news briefing.

Four officers and a civilian were shot. The officers returned fire and killed the gunman, according to Romeo.

The Lakewood Police Department has not identified the gunman, only saying he was an adult male.