Colorado attorney accused of shooting driver during protest
ALAMOSA» A defense attorney is accused of shooting a driver in the back of the head after the man drove close to protesters in the street during a demonstration over the killing of George Floyd in southern Colorado.
James Marshall, 27, was charged with attempted second-degree murder and other crimes on Monday in the June 4 shooting of Danny Von Pruitt Jr., 49, in Alamosa, KCNCTV reported.
According to police documents, Pruitt was driving a black Dodge Ram pickup through an intersection on a green light as protesters were in a crosswalk in the city of about 9,000, the commercial hub for the rural San Luis Valley.
Witnesses told police that Pruitt came to an almost complete stop before inching forward toward protesters and then continued through the intersection as protesters parted.
A man whom some witnesses identified as Marshall fired a gun into the rear of the truck’s cab, wounding Pruitt.
Pruitt, who is from Cañon City, continued to drive and was found parked 10 blocks away. His condition Tuesday was not known but a June 7 update to a GoFundMe fundraiser said that Pruitt, described as a disabled veteran and a single father, was being treated for swelling in his brain and was in stable condition.
Marshall’s lawyer, Randy Canney, declined to comment.
According to the documents, Marshall, his wife and his lawyer were waiting for police when they arrived at his home to arrest him.
He allegedly told an officer that he and his wife started crossing the street when traffic was stopped at a red light.
He said he fired because he thought the truck had hit his wife and was afraid she was going to be run over, the document said. According to police, surveillance video from a business at the intersection did not show the truck hitting his wife.
When he was arrested, Marshall no longer had the beard he had been seen with under a mask at the protest, allegedly saying “if he was going to jail he wanted to shave.” He was released after posting $60,000 bond the following day.