Colorado Springs police have released body camera video that shows two officers shooting 19-year-old De’Von Bailey in the back as he ran from them, ignoring their commands to put his hands up.
The graphic footage from two officers’ body cameras shows Bailey fall to the pavement, weakly attempt to raise his right hand up above his head as blood poured from gunshot wounds on his back and pooled on the street.
Bailey soon collapsed and moaned as officers handcuffed him. He died later after being transported to a hospital.
The Colorado Springs Police Department on Thursday released the video of the Aug. 3 officer-involved shooting along with audio from a 911 call that led to the police encounter with Bailey. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday it had concluded its investigation into the shooting and had turned over findings to the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which includes El Paso County.
The Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a series of tweets Thursday afternoon that it was committed to a “thorough, fair and neutral review” of the case. The office’s prosecutors could conduct follow-up interviews as well as additional testing and examination of evidence. Police shooting investigations typically take 90 to 120 days, the tweet said.
The DA’s office could determine the shooting was justified, file charges or refer the case to a grand jury, the tweet said.
The shooting has been controversial, and the Bailey family and their supporters have held demonstrations outside the police department’s headquarters to demand an independent investigation into the shooting. They have said the El Paso county sheriff and district attorney’s office cannot conduct an impartial investigation because they work closely with each other on other criminal investigations. They also had called on police to release the body camera footage.
“It is released at this time at the assurance of the investigative agency that doing so will not likely impede the investigation,” the department said in a news release Thursday.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Denver attorneys Darold Killmer and Mari Newman released a statement Thursday afternoon on behalf of Bailey’s family.
“The family is devastated at having seen this evidence of the wholly unjustified killing of their beloved family member,” the statement said. “Since the wake for De’Von Bailey is today and the funeral is tomorrow, and given the circumstances, the parents of De’Von will not be available for public comment today, as they are grieving and attending to the burial of their son.”
The statement also said that U.S. and Colorado laws prohibit law enforcement officers from shooting and killing a fleeing suspect unless the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect is imminently about to kill or seriously injure the officer or someone else.
“The video evidence released today demonstrates that De’Von was not presenting any threat to the officers who shot and killed him while he attempted to flee,” the statement said. “In addition, there is not a shred of evidence that De’Von presented an imminent threat or risk that he was imminently about to use a gun to harm anyone else. Instead, it is clear that he was merely trying to get away from the situation.”
Colorado Springs police identified the officers who fired their handguns at Bailey as Sgt. Alan Van’t Land and Officer Blake Evenson. Van’t Land has been on the police force since 2008. Evenson started working at the department in 2012.
The fact that Bailey was running with his back turned to police will be a factor in whether prosecutors charge the officers in the case, but the district attorney’s office will have to look at other information as well, said Stan Garnett, the former district attorney for Boulder County. In his nearly 10 years in the role, he examined 26 fatal shootings by police for potential criminal charges and did not file charges in any, he said.
“The law is very favorable to law enforcement,” he said.
The Colorado Springs district attorney also will evaluate what the officers knew at the time of the shooting, how they perceived the level of danger to themselves and others, the severity of the crime they were investigating and whether they had any knowledge of Bailey prior to the fatal encounter, Garnett said.
Videos of police shootings often evoke deep emotional reactions, he said, but the video is only part of the evidence that will be examined.
“The issue is going to be how did all of this appear to the officers,” he said.
After prosecutors make their decision whether to file criminal charges, the Colorado Springs Police Department will evaluate whether the officers followed the department’s use-of-force policy. The policy emphasizes de-escalation tactics and states that officers should warn a person of impending use of physical force when possible. The policy also states officers can use deadly force to prevent the escape of a person suspected of committing a felony with a deadly weapon.
Officers Van’t Land and Evenson were investigating a report of an armed robbery when they contacted Bailey.
The 911 recordings and body camera video provide second-by-second details of what happened.
The incident began with a 911 call to police by a robbery victim outside a nursing home on the 2300 block of East Fountain Boulevard. “I was walking down the street, and some men just confronted me …” a man told the 911 operator.
Two black men had asked him what was in his pockets and he had told them he didn’t have anything. Then, one of the suspects began hitting him and the other man pulled out a gun that looked like a Glock 23, the caller said. They took his wallet.
The 911 caller told the dispatcher he knew the suspects and that they still were in the area. He described one as a 19-year-old man with an afro and a goatee who went by the nickname “Spazz.” The other man was heavy set, he said. .
Body camera video then shows Van’t Land driving up to two men on a street and telling the dispatcher, “I’ve got two that may match the description …”
The sergeant jumped out of his patrol car and said “Hey guys, can I talk to you a sec?”
Bailey, wearing black shorts and shirt, and another larger man wearing a red T-shirt, walked slowly toward Van’t Land.
“All right. What’s going on today? What are your names? All right,” Van’t Land said. “So, we got a contact that, uh – keep your hands out of your pockets.”
“Oh, sorry,” Bailey replied. Van’t Land explains that police had just received a call about an assault. “Oh, I didn’t touch him,” Bailey said.
The sergeant asked for his name, and Bailey replied, “De’Von.” Bailey denied that his nickname was “Spazz.”
“Put your hands up for me a sec,” the sergeant repeated. “Put your hands up. So we got a report of two people of similar descriptions, possibly having a gun, all right. So don’t reach for your waists. So we’re just going to check and make sure you don’t have a weapon, all right?”
As Officer Evenson could be seen walking behind Bailey, the teen suddenly jumped and ran away.
“Hands up. Hands up. Hands up,” Van’t Land yelled. Bailey ignored the orders and kept running away. Within moments gunshots could be heard in rapid succession. Bailey fell to his butt as an officer continued yelling, “Hands up. Hands up. Hands up.”
Bailey weakly lifted his right hand and then rolled onto his stomach. He was bleeding from wounds on the left side of his back. Police handcuffed him. The officers found a handgun in his shorts, but had to cut off his shorts to secure it.
Reporter Elise Schmelzer contributed to this story.
