Man who livestreamed King Soopers shooting found not guilty of obstruction

Mitchell Byars, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
·1 min read

Oct. 27—The man who livestreamed the March 2021 King Soopers shooting and subsequent police response was acquitted of obstruction following a trial.

Dean Anthony Schiller, 43, was found not guilty of one misdemeanor count of obstructing a peace officer, according to the Boulder County District Attorney's Office.

According to an affidavit, Schiller posted a livestream video on March 22 from the Table Mesa King Soopers in south Boulder, where a gunman opened fire and killed 10 people.

An investigator with the Boulder County District Attorney's Office wrote that Schiller was at the store at the time of the shooting and began filming the events with his cellphone. The investigator said that over the next 90 minutes, Schiller ignored about 60 different requests from various law enforcement personnel to leave the immediate crime scene, including several attempts to physically move him from the scene.

Schiller reportedly told law enforcement he was a journalist. He told the Daily Camera that he was at the store that day with his friend Denny Stong, who would become one of the victims in the shooting.

"I feel like I was just out there exercising my First Amendment right," he said.

Boulder police Officer Eric Talley, 51; Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Teri Leiker, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65, were killed in the shooting.