A surveillance video obtained and released by the Colorado Springs Gazette shows Colorado Springs police officers shooting a black teenager in the back as he attempted to flee their questioning Saturday evening.
Nineteen-year-old De’von Bailey later died at a local hospital.
A news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting, said officers responded to a report of a personal robbery at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday. As the release states, the officers contacted two suspects “and during the encounter, one suspect reached for a firearm. At least one officer fired a shot at the suspect.”
However, the footage appears to show the two officers shooting Bailey as he ran from them. Bailey falls to the ground and was then handcuffed by the officers.
That aligns with witness accounts, who said the police fired five to seven times at Bailey. Lawrence Stoker, who said he was the other suspect in the incident, told CPR that while Bailey did have a firearm, the officers did not see it before they fired and Bailey never reached for the weapon.
The Monday protest of the shooting turned contentious when two bail bondsmen, both white, taunted the crowd and pulled their own firearms after protesters became aggressive. Both were arrested without serious injury.
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers called for patience from residents in a Tuesday night statement.
“It is in the best interest of everyone involved, and our entire community, to ensure that the incident is fully and effectively investigated and an appropriate conclusion is reached,” Suthers said. “We know that there can be frustration with the time this takes, but we cannot compromise the investigation by failing to spend the appropriate time gathering the facts; that would serve no one.”
