Of 5 fatal shootings by CSPD in 2019, Bailey case garners most attention
For the first time in Colorado history, a governor has called for an independent investigation for a police shooting. Thursday, Governor Jared Polis spoke out about the Aug. 3 shooting of 19-year-old De’Von Bailey.
While it may seem like it’s the only police-involved shooting in Colorado Springs this year, there have been seven shootings by CSPD officers, and five of them were fatal.
The first shooting was just 12 days into 2019. Just a week before De’von Bailey was shot and killed, Joshua Vigil also died of police gunfire.
Friday Vigil’s family and friends gathered in from of the Colorado Springs Police Operations Center downtown to rally for justice and ask for police body camera footage.
Vigil was shot and killed after police say they got a call of a suspicious man with a gun. When officers made contact with him, they say he got into his car, and fled the scene. Officers said they later found him at the Fountain Garden Apartments, where he was shot and killed.
It was just a week before Bailey was killed, yet police have already released the body camera footage in that case. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office told KRDO that the shooting of Vigil is still under investigation and hasn’t been given to the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review yet.
Bailey’s story was the most viewed of this year’s officer-involved shootings — articles about Bailey’s death on KRDO.com have received tens of thousands of page views more than other officer-involved shootings in Colorado Springs. While his story continues to make national headlines, four more shootings involving CSPD officers this year have ended in death.
According to police, Bill Gerald Akes was armed with a hatchet when he was shot by officers in January.
In April Jonathan Patzel was killed after allegedly “brandishing a weapon and moving towards officers”. This shooting was ruled justified months later by the District Attorney’s Office.
Just one month later, in May, Sean Michael Collins was shot and killed by police after a four-hour standoff.
Two other men, Thomas McGeorge and David McKnight, were involved in police shootings. McKnight was not hit by gunfire while McGeorge was hospitalized for minor injuries.
While it’s been the center of discussion in Bailey’s case, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office investigates these kinds of shootings to avoid conflict of interest.
