Colorado Springs police car
© Christian Murdock, APThe rear window of a Colorado Springs Police car is shattered after a shooting Oct. 31, 2015, in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Four people, including a suspected gunman, died Saturday after a shooting spree that ended in a gun battle on the street between the suspect and police.

Officers were responding to a report of shots fired at about 8:45 a.m. MT at a home here when less than a mile away near a fast-food restaurant they spotted a suspect who matched the description of the person they wanted to find. Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs Police Department said the suspect fired, and officers shot back, killing him.

Authorities did not release the names of the suspect or the victims, and the motive for the crime is unknown.

Matt Abshire, 21, said he looked outside his apartment window and saw a man shoot someone with a rifle. Then Abshire said he ran to the street to follow the man and called police.

Afterward, he saw the suspect firing more shots that hit two woman. The conditions of those victims were not available.

Aaron Nicks said he saw police chasing the suspect, who had what appeared to be a large, semi-automatic rifle, and several officers fired after the suspect spun around and pointed his weapon at them.

"They yelled, 'Put the gun down,' and he turned around. And that's when they shot at him a good 20 times," said Alisha Jaynes, who saw the incident as she tried to withdraw money from an ATM. "There was a lot of gunfire."

The crime scene covered several major downtown streets, which were shut down most of the day while investigators tried to figure out what happened, Buckley said.

Spokeswoman Jacqueline Kirby of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, which has taken over the investigation, said at least three crime scenes are involved.