A professional bicyclist accused of firing a handgun as he rode through a Deer Creek Canyon neighborhood told a deputy that he was having a rough day and needed to vent, according to a Jefferson County sheriff’s report.

A deputy who issued Daniel Summerhill, 28, a summons found at least three spent rounds, each about 50 yards apart, along South Deer Creek Road after responding to a report of shots fired on the afternoon of Feb 21.

Contacted on Tuesday morning, Summerhill said he wasn’t guilty, but he didn’t elaborate.

Summerhill, who last rode for UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in Jefferson County Court to charges of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, Jefferson County district attorney’s spokeswoman Pam Russell said.

The UnitedHealthcare team released Summerhill Tuesday.

“When made aware of these serious allegations, we immediately contacted the team’s management, which has accepted this individual’s resignation, effective immediately,” UnitedHealthcare spokesman Will Shanley said in an email.

Team owner Momentum Sports Group conducted an internal investigation before accepting Summerhill’s resignation, spokesman Jonathan Potter said in an email. “The personal actions of one individual do not represent the values of our dedicated athletes, sponsors or fans, and we offer our sincerest apologies to anyone who may have been impacted.”

Joe Porter, who lives in the area, followed Summerhill after the shots were fired and confronted him near the intersection of West Deer Creek Canyon Road and Grizzly Drive, according to the police report. He told investigators that he could see “a handgun in one of the pouches on the back of the male’s jersey.”

Summerhill, who told an investigator he had been on a five-hour training ride in Deer Creek Canyon, “initially denied shooting, but then admitted that he had a bad day and need to vent, so he decided to shoot.”

Porter’s wife, Shawn, who was on the road checking her mailbox when shots were fired, told the deputy that she returned from work at 3:20 p.m. and heard three loud pops.

She saw a bicyclist riding down Deer Creek Road. He fired two more rounds into a hillside as he rode, she said.

“The area that she indicated that he had shot at was a hillside between two driveways, with a freestanding garage and a vehicle parked in front of it,” the report said. “There were residences on both sides of the road there, as well as one above the hillside where the male had shot.”

Porter said Tuesday that along 2.8-mile stretch of Deer Creek Road, there are about 60 homes, and in the immediate area where shots were fired there are at least six homes. “Everybody has propane tanks,” outside the houses.

The incident left his wife terrified, Porter said.

A neighbor who was in her front yard when the man rode past said she didn’t know how many shots were fired but said several were aimed toward the hillside across from her home, the report said.

Joe Porter took video of the cyclist. After reviewing he found that the alleged shooter was a member of the UnitedHealthcare team.

He called deputy Jeffrey Pedersen and advised him that he believed Summerhill was the shooter.

Pedersen met Summerhill at a 24 Hour Fitness gym in Douglas County. Summerhill told the deputy he had no idea that the area was residential and that it was illegal to shoot at the hillside.

Summerhill is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing July 12, Russell said.