Weld County Sheriff’s Deputy Samuel Kent Brownlee, 43, was killed in the line of duty on November 23, 2010. A high-speed pursuit began after a report to Fort Morgan police that a suspect had stolen his girlfriend’s car and was reportedly suicidal. The chase ran through multiple jurisdictions at speeds over 100 miles per hour before stop sticks disabled the stolen vehicle in the 3200 block of Coyote Lane in Evans, Colorado.

When the vehicle stopped a physical struggle followed as officers, including Deputy Brownlee who had just arrived, tried to take the suspect into custody. During the altercation the suspect gained control of Deputy Brownlee’s service weapon and fired three rounds, all of which struck Deputy Brownlee. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Another officer shot the suspect at the scene; the suspect later died of his wounds at the hospital.

What details about the pursuit or the struggle might help explain how the suspect gained control of a deputy’s sidearm?