11 officers cleared in fatal shooting of Riehl

Eleven deputies and officers from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Castle Rock and Parker police departments have all been cleared in the fatal shooting of spree shooter Matthew Riehl, who fatally shot a deputy and wounded four officers and two bystanders.

“After reviewing all the evidence and reports, I find that all officers acted completely lawfully in using deadly force against Matthew Riehl,” wrote Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney Jason Siers. “All officers acted in self defense or defense of others. They were legally justified in shooting and killing Mr. Riehl.”

On Dec. 31, Riehl fired at least 100 shots at numerous Douglas County deputies and Castle Rock police officers, killing Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parrish and wounding three other deputies, a Castle Rock police officer and two neighbors, according to Siers’ report released Monday.

The injured deputies were Mike Doyle, 28; Taylor Davis, 30; and Jeff Pelle, 32: and police officer Tom O’Donnell, 41. Two people in adjacent apartments were injured, but their names have not been released.

Davis and Parrish arrived at Copper Canyon Apartments at 5:17 a.m. Parrish heard loud noises inside the apartment, the report said. According to deputies, Riehl, who lived in apartment 24 on the second floor, displayed manic behavior, Siers’ report says. Riehl refused several orders to open the door and come out, according to the report. More deputies arrived.

Deputies entered the apartment and approached the bedroom door. Riehl, who was behind the bedroom door, said that he warned them not to enter his apartment. At that moment, Parrish kicked the bedroom door, creating a hole below the door knob.

Riehl immediately fired numerous rounds through the door, striking Parrish and Davis. Parrish yelled that he was shot, the report says.

“300 Adam, we’ve got three officers hit, one down, two injured minor, person was shot with a gun inside the apartment still … I need SWAT right now. I need medical,” Sgt. Dave Beyer told a dispatcher, according to the report.

Deputies George Lekander, Nicole Holiday and Jonathan Stauffer responded to the call. Riehl fired a semi-automatic rifle at them, the report says. All three deputies returned fire.

Holiday and Stauffer fired AR-15 rifles at Riehl and Lekander fired a pistol. None of the shots struck Riehl. Riehl continued firing shots at the deputies while they waited for SWAT team members to arrive.

In an effort to rescue Parrish, officer Ronnie Dorrell, deputy Jason Friesen, officer Cleveland Holmes and Sgt. Jacob Schuster entered the apartment and fired at Riehl until “they ended the deadly threat posed by Mr. Riehl,” the report says.

Dorrell fired his Glock 22, striking Riehl in his chest and elbow. Investigators were unable to link a bullet fragment that hit Riehl in the back to any specific gun. A bullet that went through Riehl’s left arm could not be identified.

“The officers did not violate a criminal statute,” Siers’ report says.