Woman charged in red flag law case released

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A woman accused of lying when she filed a petition seeking to take away the guns of a university police officer involved in her son’s 2017 shooting death, one of the first attempted uses of Colorado’s red flag law, was released from jail on Wednesday.

Susan Holmes, 64, had been arrested Tuesday in Fort Collins, where she lives, more than a week after authorities issued an arrest warrant for her, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokesman David Moore said.

She had been wanted on suspicion of first-degree perjury and attempt to influence a public servant for saying she and Colorado State University police officer Phillip Morris had a child in common — a possible reference to her son — as grounds that qualified her to seek a court order to take away his guns under what is formally called the extreme risk protection order law.

The law, which took effect Jan. 1, only allows family or household members or law enforcement to seek the temporary removal of someone’s guns because they believe they are a threat to themselves or others.

Holmes’ 19-year-old son Jeremy died after being shot near the university campus in Fort Collins by Morris and a city police officer, Erin Mast, after he allegedly refused to drop a knife on July 1, 2017, the Coloradoan newspaper reported. According to District Attorney Cliff Riedel’s review of the shooting, a relative of Jeremy Holmes had called to report that he wanted to kill his brother and sister-in-law and planned to charge at police, hoping they would shoot him, if confronted, the newspaper said. He concluded the shooting was justified.

Holmes was released from jail after promising to appear at a court hearing that has not been scheduled yet.