Woman shot outside Greeley hospital was a victim of domestic violence, had a protection order

GREELEY, Colo. — A 35-year-old woman shot and wounded on Halloween outside a Greeley hospital was in the midst of a divorce and had a protection order against her husband, 9NEWS Investigates has learned.

Less than an hour after she was injured at the UCHealth Greeley Hospital, a fire broke out at a home in Evans that the couple had purchased in 2020 before losing it to foreclosure last year.

When a police SWAT team went into the home, they found a man dead inside. The Greeley Police Department has not confirmed if it was her husband who died in the home – or identified any of those involved.

However, documents obtained by 9NEWS show that the woman’s husband was due in court Monday morning for domestic violence allegations related to an incident in August. But when a judge called the case, his attorney announced that he is deceased.

Other court documents detail the loss of the couple’s home, which came after they stopped making mortgage payments in February 2023, according to court documents.

In Aug. 2023, a judge ordered that the home be sold. It still has not been and it’s not clear why.

This year, the woman’s husband was accused of following her to a Greeley bar on Aug. 17, where she met friends. 

A manager kicked the man out after he was seen following her inside the business. A short time later, he was accused of smashing out the windows of his wife’s car.

Prosecutors charged him with criminal mischief and harassment, classifying the incident as domestic violence.

The following day, a judge issued a protection order. It prohibited the man from going to the UCHealth Greeley Hospital, where the woman works, and barred him for possessing or buying a gun.

The day after that, the woman filed for divorce, according to court documents.

Soledad Diaz from Violence Free Colorado does not know the details of this case, but said the factors involved, including financial pressures and an earlier allegation of domestic violence, represent a “piling up of the all the dynamics that we tend to see.”

She also said that while protection orders work about 70% of the time, it only works if those who get them follow them.

“A protection order won’t guarantee that the abuse will stop or that this extreme situations won’t happen,” Diaz said. “They are a part of a safety plan for a survivor.”