Candlelight vigil held Monday for Joshua Vigil on anniversary of police shooting in Colorado Springs
Monday was the fifth-month anniversary of the fatal shooting of Joshua Vigil, 38, by Colorado Springs police, an occasion not lost on his family and friends.
A group of 30 to 40 people gathered around 5 p.m. at the apartment complex near Fountain Boulevard and Chelton Road, where Vigil was shot by three officers at the end of a confrontation.
The group held candles and shared memories of Vigil -- a father of five children -- hours after the district attorney's office ruled that the officers' actions were justified.
Among those attending the Vigil were his daughter, Angelyna Reed. and his sister, Amanda Alire.
"It all seems surreal to me," Reed said. "That was my dad. He didn't have to be shot 20 times. I just don't understand it. It's not OK to do that."
"It's an outrage that the district attorney's office ruled this a justified shooting." Alire said. "Yes we knew he had a gun. But Josh was trapped in a glass cage with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide."
The family also is upset about a comment made by Officer Aragon -- the first officer to fire at Vigil -- that was recorded by his body camera as he and another officer were being dispatched to a domestic violence call just before the shooting.
"Let's just go help, so if we can shoot this dude," Aragon said.
Aragon later clarified his statement, explaining that he wanted to be at the domestic violence scene in case he had to shoot a suspect.
Despite ruling the officers justified in shooting Vigil -- who was determined in the investigation to be armed, threatening and under the influence of alcohol and drugs -- the district attorney's office called Aragon's statement "troubling."
"It just shows he had the mindset that he wanted to kill someone," Alire said.
"It's no surprise that the officers were found to be justified," Reed said. "The police works with the D.A.'s office. In the Bailey shooting not long after that, same thing. There's a clear pattern of wrong behavior."
Reed said the family isn't giving up.
"We've hired an attorney and will fight this all the way," she said.
