Two police officers shot and killed a machete-wielding suspect inside the Champions Center at the University of Colorado’s Folsom Field on Wednesday morning, a move police said was in the “best interest” of the campus after the man refused to drop his weapon.

Following an altercation outside, the suspect — who has not yet been identified publicly — followed a patient into the sports-medicine facility, campus police said at an afternoon news conference.

A source close to the investigation told the Daily Camera that the suspect was a white male in his early 20s who appeared to be a “religious zealot of some kind” and who had been overheard talking about “looking for sinners.” He has been tentatively ID’d as a recently discharged U.S. Marine, the source said.

The source said the suspect approached a woman sitting in her car in the parking lot outside the Champions Center and wrote a message referring to the Ten Commandments on the vehicle.

The shooting was the start of a tumultuous day on CU’s Boulder campus that sparked several false active-shooter reports and the evacuation and closure of the University Memorial Center hours later.

Emergency responders were first alerted around 9:15 a.m. that a man with a machete had entered the Champions Center, the newly expanded athletics and sports-medicine facility west of Folsom Street on Stadium Drive.

“A patient who was receiving treatment at the sports-medicine facility encountered a man armed with a machete outside,” CU police Chief Melissa Zak said at a news conference. “The man made threatening and harassing statements to the patient, at which time the patient entered the Champions Center and went to the second floor. The suspect followed the patient to the second floor.”

Once inside the building, the man with the machete generated “multiple” 911 calls, Zak said.

Officers from the CU and Boulder police departments responded to the Champions Center and confronted the suspect.

The man did not follow police orders to put down the machete, Zak said. Around 9:28 a.m., a call of “shots fired” was aired over the police scanner and officers reported the suspect was down in a stairwell inside the center.

A Boulder officer and a CU officer fired shots at the man, according to Boulder police Chief Greg Testa.

Testa said he did not know how many shots the officers fired.

No officers or any people inside the building were injured, officials said.

Wednesday’s incident was the third officer-involved shooting in Boulder County this year.

Though the investigation is just beginning, and she said she could not comment on whether the officers considered non-lethal options, Zak defended the decision to shoot the suspect.

“Given the weapon that the suspect was armed with, given the statements already made to our initial victim and given the nature of how (the suspect) was maneuvering through the Champions Center, we believe that it was in the best interest of the university — that it was a deadly force situation,” Zak said.

Both officers are on administrative leave, pending an investigation into the officer-involved shooting by the county’s Critical Incident Team.

“I’m sure that as the days unfold and we learn more information about the actions of our officers on the scene that we will be able to identify any issues if there are any in terms of how our officers deployed lethal force,” Zak said.

‘You don’t want none of this’

Beth Guadagni said she was on the second floor of the Champions Center on Wednesday morning getting physical therapy following a recent hip surgery. She was on an exercise bike when she said staff members told her the center was on lockdown, and helped her get into an MRI room, where 20 to 25 people locked themselves inside.

“It was very tense,” she said. “We didn’t know where he was, and that was the scariest part… People were brave, but we just didn’t know what was happening.”

Guadagni was able to text her husband, Ed O’Malley, telling him what was going on, but then put her phone on silent.

“I didn’t want to stay in contact because I wanted to be really alert,” she said. “But I think that worried him.”

Sure enough, O’Malley pulled up to the closed Stadium Drive after receiving the text and could only survey the scene from afar until he heard from Guadagni that she was OK.

“She said there was someone running around with a machete,” he said. “Then I didn’t hear from her for about 10 minutes. I got pretty nervous.”

Guadagni credited CU staff members with getting everyone moved and safe. While Guadagni never saw the suspect, she said one of the staff members who was with her encountered him and said the suspect brandished the machete and said, “You don’t want none of this.”

Two other people trapped in the MRI room with Guadagni were Jack Varga and his 17-year-old son Chris, who was at the center being treated for a head injury.

“We didn’t know if this guy was going to bust through the door or not,” Varga said. “I felt a little better when I heard it was a machete. I’m thinking about protecting my son, and I said, ‘I can take a machete blow and take this guy out if I have to.’ All I wanted to do was make sure he was OK and protected.”

Varga said his son is still traumatized by the incident, and said it was “scary.” But he added that the staff remained calm, and said it helped being in a large group.

“When we were saying goodbye to them, I said, ‘I don’t know your name, but I will never forget you for the rest of my life,'” Varga said.

‘It’s definitely surreal’

The Champions Center, which was part of CU’s recent $166 million update to its athletic facilities, is home to the CU Athletic Department’s administrative offices. It also houses the CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center, which is open to members of the public seeking treatment for acute and chronic injuries related to sports, fitness and activities.

The building also houses the sports-medicine department for CU athletes, a weight room, the football team’s locker room and team lounge, the football equipment room, dining facilities and conference rooms.

Lindsey Ritz works in the sports-medicine department in the building and usually is on the second floor of the Champions Center, but said she was working late Wednesday. She was on her way in when she heard about the incident.

“It’s definitely surreal,” she said.

Ritz said she got hold of her coworkers and they told her they were fine, but operations would likely shut down for the day.

“I’m just really glad they’re OK,” she said.

Chancellor Phil DiStefano credited police with their quick response and handling of the situation.

“I want to express my deep appreciation to emergency personnel both from the campus and the community who brought this situation to a quick resolution,” DiStefano said at the afternoon news conference. “The willingness of our first responders to place themselves in dangerous situations for the safety of our community is a testament to the selflessness of their training.”

Staff Writer Sarah Kuta contributed to this report.

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars