Police: Protest shooting victim shot after altercations

DENVER » A man fatally shot by a reporter’s security guard after opposing weekend protests argued with another man before getting involved in an altercation with the guard, police said in a court document released Tuesday.

According to the arrest affidavit, Lee Keltner, 49, got into a verbal dispute with a 27-yearold man in which both “yelled and postured,” leading others to believe the dispute was going to turn physical on Saturday. A 60-year-old man stepped in between them to urge them to stop before 30-year-old Matthew Dolloff and a 25-year-old person engaged in an altercation with Keltner as he was still arguing with the 27-year-old man.

Keltner slapped Dolloff in the head and Dolloff pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and shot Keltner as Keltner discharged pepper spray at him, the document said.

The names of the people mentioned in the affidavit besides Dolloff and Keltner were redacted so it was not clear if the

25-year-old was the KUSA-TV staffer Dolloff was hired to protect.

A chronological sequence of

71 photos taken by a Denver Post photographer of both confrontations and the shooting published on Tuesday shows a man with a gray goatee standing between Keltner and a man with a shirt that says “Black Guns Matter.” Keltner is eventually seen with a can in his hand turned away from them.

The next series of images taken over the course of about two seconds shows Dolloff place his hand on Keltner’s chest as if to push him back, as a younger man stands behind Dolloff, and then Keltner hitting Dolloff in the head, knocking his sunglasses and hat out of place. Dolloff can then be seen pointing his gun at Keltner as he sprays pepper spray before dropping to the ground.

A lawyer who said he represented Dolloff’s family, Doug Richards, said on Monday that Dolloff opened fire because he saw Keltner reach into his pocket and he feared for his safety. The Post photos do not appear to show that. Richards did not return a telephone call and an email seeking further comment Tuesday.

Police have said that two guns were found at the scene. But the affidavit did not address a second gun.