Fort Collins police officer legally justified in fatal shooting near Colorado State University

Update, March 22, 2024: Fort Collins Police Services released the body camera footage from this shooting. The video is available on the department's YouTube channel, youtube.com/@fortcollinspoliceservices6475.

The video includes a 911 call recording and the events immediately before, during and after the shooting, so it may be disturbing to some viewers.

Original: The Fort Collins police officer who fatally shot a man wielding an axe and pepper spray near Colorado State University last month was legally justified in his use of force, 8th Judicial District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said Friday.

Fort Collins police officer Tyler Reichle was justified in fatally shooting William Hayes, 28, outside of Alley Cat Coffee House, 120 W. Laurel St., about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 16, McLaughlin said in his decision letter issued Friday. McLaughlin said evidence reviewed as part of the multiagency Critical Incident Response Team investigation showed the officer “used deadly force to defend his own life from the threat posed by Hayes.”

McLaughlin reviewed the CIRT investigation, led by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, which included body camera footage from Reichle, to make his determination.

About 9:30 p.m. Nov. 16, Fort Collins police started receiving calls about a man acting aggressively and shouting racial slurs outside Alley Cat Coffee House. Callers told police the man was armed with a hatchet or axe and had sprayed another person with mace or pepper spray, according to McLaughlin. Investigators later found a wooden-handled hatchet and a canister of bear spray at the scene.

Reichle was the first officer to arrive on scene, and he quickly spotted who investigators later identified as Hayes in the parking lot. Reichle said Hayes was yelling as he approached him, and Hayes was holding a hatchet and what appeared to be a large pepper spray canister.

McLaughlin said Reichle “firmly ordered the male to drop the items and advised him that he was under arrest” while holding the man at gunpoint. Hayes did not comply despite Reichle repeating the commands multiple times.

Reichle shifted from his gun to his taser and warned Hayes that he was about to be tased, but Hayes still did not comply. Reichle deployed his taser and Hayes fell to the ground, but “Hayes got up almost immediately and began charging Officer Reichle” from about 15 feet away while pointing the pepper spray canister at Reichle, McLaughlin’s letter said.

In the approximately four seconds from Hayes getting shocked by the taser and getting up to charge at Reichle, Reichle pulled out his gun and shot at Hayes four times.

After being shot, Hayes stood bent over for 1-2 seconds, then “stood upright and turned his body again toward Officer Reichle,” who then fired two additional shots at Hayes.

“Even after the last two shots were fired, Mr. Hayes appeared almost unaffected by the gunshots,” McLaughlin wrote in his decision letter, and Hayes “continued to pursue Officer Reichle as the officer retreated backward down the alley toward Laurel Street.”

Hayes pursued Reichle down the alley for about 10 seconds before “evidently feeling the effects of his gunshot wounds” and kneeling to the ground, McLaughlin said.

While being pursued by Hayes, Reichle continued giving Hayes commands that he was under arrest and he needed to get on the ground. After kneeling on the ground, Hayes started following some commands — from Reichle and another officer who arrived on scene — but was still moving, so officers were unable to approach him. Eventually, Hayes appeared to mouth “help me” to officers, who said they would help him if complied and stayed on the ground. Shortly after, Haye laid on the ground and multiple officers started providing medical aid until medical crews arrived.

Hayes was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased just after 10 p.m. The Larimer County Coroner's Office determined Hayes was shot twice, and those gunshots were his cause of death.

Hayes’ mother later told CIRT investigators her son had a history of mental illness but he refused treatment. She said she spoke with him earlier the day of the shooting, and while some of his “rude” behavior was typical, some of his other messages “were escalated from his normal behavior and out of the ordinary,” according to McLaughlin’s letter.

In an interview with CIRT investigators, Reichle said he remembered thinking Hayes was “invincible” and “determined,” and Reichle worried that, if Hayes had reached him the times Hayes charged at him, “I bet he would have overpowered me and won.”

“I was alone, and I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to keep backing up and get out of there by myself,” Reichle told CIRT investigators.

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 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.

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.

After a CIRT investigation is completed, the report is presented to the district attorney, who decides if any criminal charges will be filed related to the incident.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins police officer legally justified in fatal shooting near CSU