Feds say no civil rights violations in shooting of De’Von Bailey
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Federal Bureau of Investigations says that while the shooting of De'Von Bailey in Colorado Springs was "undoubtedly devastating to his family, friends, and community," it wasn't a willful violation of Bailey's Constitutional rights.
The FBI's Denver Field Office released its conclusion Friday, more than six months after Bailey was killed.
Bailey was shot on Aug. 3 by two CSPD officers following a report of a robbery. Body camera footage was released in the wake of the shooting, and it shows Bailey run away from officers just before they're about to search him for a weapon. The video appears to show Bailey holding an item in his shorts while running away, and that's when the officers open fire.
Bailey was shot three times in the back and died at the hospital. His death prompted protests across the city, with his family calling for an independent investigation into the shooting.
May expressed his sympathies for Bailey's family and his parents, saying they were like other parents of victims in fatal shootings that he has encountered.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office investigated the shooting and turned its report into the DA's office. The two officers involved, Sgt. Alan Van't Land and Officer Blake Evenson, have since returned to duty.
A grand jury convened by the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting justified.
In the above video, the interactions with Bailey and another suspect can be seen at about the 13-minute mark.
The video appears to show Bailey holding an item in his waistband while running away from police officers. That's when the officers open fire before Bailey falls to the ground. When the officers get to Bailey, they appear to find a gun in between his legs.
The video doesn't appear to show Bailey point the gun at officers, but officers can use deadly force if they know a fleeing suspect has a deadly weapon.
District Attorney Dan May said the two videos provided "the best view of an officer-involved shooting" he had ever seen. Those videos were viewed by the grand jury, which concluded that the officers were justified in shooting Bailey because they had evidence leading them to believe he was armed when he was fleeing.
