POLICE SHOOTING
Case must leave El Paso County
Were Colorado Springs police officers justified in their use of deadly force when 19-year-old De’von Bailey turned and ran away from an officer about to pat him down and look for a gun?
It’s going to be a difficult decision — so difficult in fact that we cannot imagine it remaining in the hands of the 4th Judicial District where the prosecutors who will be making the judgment have close working relationships with the police officers in the community. The prosecutor examining the evidence in this extremely close call needs to be more removed from the people involved. El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder and District Attorney Dan May should send this to another district or to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Attorney General’s office. We also think Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers is right that the evidence could be presented to a grand jury.
The case is both simple and complex. The entire incident is captured on video from multiple angles, so there’s no question about what happened. On Aug. 3, police responded to a call from a victim who said two men he knew had assaulted him and taken his wallet at gunpoint. The victim said he saw one gun but that there may have been two.
Using the victim’s description of the suspects, including one of their names and the other’s nickname, and information about where the individuals lived, police approached De’von Bailey and his cousin Lawrence Stoker as the two men were walking down the street. The two were told the police were investigating an assault and police asked them to keep their hands up while the officers checked for weapons.
It’s then that Bailey turns and runs. We never see Bailey’s gun in the videos, and contrary to a statement from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, we don’t think it’s clear that Bailey was reaching for a gun. The officers do yell at Bailey to put his hands up several times, but Bailey only makes it a few steps before the police fire several rounds and he falls to the ground. The El Paso County coroner said Bailey was hit three times in the back and once in the elbow.
Officers request a medical kit and then discover a gun hidden in Bailey’s pants.
According to Colorado law, an officer is justified in using deadly physical force in several circumstances but the one most likely to apply in this case is: “to effect an arrest, or to prevent the escape from custody, of a person whom he reasonably believes: Has committed or attempted to commit a felony involving the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon.”
The officer in this case had reason to believe that these individuals were the suspects who were accused of using a gun in a robbery.
Was their belief reasonable enough to justify the shooting? We think the person making that judgment should not be a prosecutor in El Paso County.
Bailey’s parents have respectfully asked for the case to be moved. Their suspicion that the scales of justice might be tipped in the officers’ favor is fueled by the erroneous description of events put out by the sheriff’s office. In a press conference held two days before the body camera video was released, Bailey’s father said he wants justice for his son.
For justice to be served in this very difficult case, it must be moved.