Fort Collins officer fatally shoots man police say wielded weapon near Colorado State
A Fort Collins police officer fatally shot a man police say approached him with an "edged weapon" in an alley near Colorado State University on Thursday night.
The shooting happened shortly after 9:30 p.m. in the 100 block of West Laurel Street, according to a Fort Collins Police Services news release.
Police say they received reports that a male in the alley was "yelling racial slurs and that he possibly attacked someone and had a weapon in his hand." Another call also reported the man had a weapon in his hand, according to the news release, and police say that while officers were responding, they were told he may have attacked someone else with pepper spray.
A responding officer found a man in the alley holding pepper spray and an edged weapon, according to the news release, and police say that the man did not comply with multiple commands to drop that weapon.
The officer used his Taser after the man reportedly came toward him, then fired his duty weapon "several times" after the man continued advancing, according to the news release. The man was struck, and additional police officers who arrived on scene gave him medical aid. He was pronounced dead after being taken by ambulance to an area hospital. The man's identity will be released by the Larimer County Coroner’s Office after next of kin are notified.
Police say no other members of the public or officers were injured during this incident.
This was the first fatal Fort Collins police shooting since January 2019, according to 8th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team records.
The multiagency CIRT unit will investigate the shooting, with Larimer County Sheriff's Office leading that investigation. After that investigation is complete and CIRT team members present the findings to the district attorney, the district attorney's office will make a finding on whether the officer involved should be charged with a crime.
How CIRT works
The 8th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team, or CIRT, was formed in 2015 in accordance with a new state law requiring a multiagency team to investigate "an incident involving the discharge of a firearm by a peace officer that resulted in injury or death."
The team is automatically and immediately activated when a police officer is involved in such a shooting. The agency that employs the officer or officers involved in a shooting is responsible for alerting the team.
CIRT can also investigate incidents involving officers that result in serious injury or death, including car crashes, as well as incidents in the Larimer County Jail. The district attorney's office recently expanded what CIRT can be consulted or activated for in an effort to take a broader look at a range of use of force cases, not just police shootings.
There were 10 full CIRT investigations in 2022 and dozens of consultations, according to the district attorney's office.
Fort Collins Police Services, Loveland Police Department and the Larimer County Sheriff's Office take turns being the lead agency for police shooting investigations. Each year, the responsibility rotates to a different agency.
Agencies involved in the investigations include: Windsor Police Department, Timnath Police Department, Johnstown Police Department, Estes Park Police Department, Colorado State University Police Department, Colorado State Patrol and the Larimer County District Attorney's Office.
An agency cannot investigate itself.
Coloradoan reporter Sady Swanson contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins officer fatally shoots man police say had weapon near CSU
