Colorado Springs Officers Involved In Shooting Of De’Von Bailey Back On ‘Full Duty’

Colorado Springs Police Department
Screencapture from police body cam video from Aug. 3, 2019 and released by the Colorado Springs Police Department on Aug. 15, 2019.

Updated: 4:30 p.m.

The officers involved in the De’Von Bailey shooting are back on “full duty,” according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The two officers who fired their weapons in the Aug. 3 incident are Sgt. Alan Van’t Land and Officer Blake Evenson, according to police. Van’t Land has been with the department for 11 years. Evanson has been with the department since 2012. 

In body camera footage released Thursday afternoon, eight gunshots are fired. According to autopsy reports, three bullets hit Bailey in the back and a fourth to his arm.

Outside the Colorado Springs Police Department on Friday afternoon, Pastor and family friend Terry Thomas said the shooting should be ruled unjustified.

“The black and brown citizens of Colorado Springs are not safe with these officers on the street,” he said. "Because there's no consequences, officers have a mentality of fire first and think later, because no one ever pays the price -- but us."

Terry Thomas
Dan Boyce/CPR News
De'Von Bailey's family friend the Rev. Terry Thomas speaks to news media outside the Colorado Springs Police Department Friday Aug. 16 2019.

Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May will decide whether the officers involved in Bailey’s death will be charged. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office completed its investigation into the shooting and turned its report over to May Thursday.

“Our office takes officer-involved shooting investigations very seriously, and we are committed to a thorough, fair and neutral review, which may include follow-up interviews, additional testing, and further analysis and examination of the evidence,” May said in a statement.

“Typically, an officer-involved shooting investigation takes our office approximately 90 to 120 days to complete, sometimes longer, at which point we will issue a statement detailing our findings -- either charges are filed, the shooting is ruled justified, or the case is sent to a grand jury.”

Of the three most recent investigations into officer-involved shootings in El Paso County, the shortest time May's office took to make a charging decision was 75 days.

Initial interviews were completed prior to the release of the body camera footage. The Attorney General’s Office has been in contact with Bailey’s family and their attorneys.

Darold Killmer, an attorney for the Bailey family, said he wants the Attorney General’s Office to handle the investigation because it would be fair and free of any conflict of interest. 

Colorado has a "fleeing felon" statute that gives officers wide discretion in the use of deadly force against a potentially dangerous suspect.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

CPR's Dan Boyce contributed to this report.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misspelled Officer Blake Evenson's surname.