Police: Officer who shot teen thought his body camera was recording
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office says a Fountain Police officer who shot and killed a 17-year-old last week was wearing a body camera, but that it didn’t capture the incident.
“He attempted to activate his camera. Our policy states that at no time should an officer put himself in jeopardy to try and initiate their camera,” said Fountain Police Chief Chris Heberer.
The shooting happened Thursday afternoon (9/24/15) at a home in the 700 block of Legend Oak Dr. Police were called to the address at 2:20 p.m. on a report of a family fight.
Fountain Police say two officers were invited into the home when the teen, identified as Patrick O’Grady, pointed a gun at them. That’s when Officer Jonathan Kay shot him.
“Officer Kay did the best job he could under the circumstances,” Heberer said.
Kay, 44, has been with the department since February of this year. He is on paid administrative leave.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting. It said Wednesday (9/30/15) that Kay and the other officer who responded to the call were wearing body cameras, but that neither camera captured the shooting or the events leading up to it.
On Thursday, (10/1/15), Fountain Police said Kay believed he activated his body camera as he got out of his car at the home where the shooting happened, but that he later discovered that it hadn’t been recording.
Police said that as soon as Kay got out of his car, he was waived into the home by the teen’s mother. They say he radioed that shots had been fired and requested medical less than a minute later. It was then that he realized his body camera had not been recording and he hit the record button.
The sheriff’s office said Wednesday an arrest had been made in connection to the case. A juvenile, whose name was not released, faces charges for burglary, attempted motor vehicle theft, possession of a handgun by a juvenile and attempted theft.
The sheriff’s office says the arrested juvenile was involved in crimes that led up to the shooting.
Patrick O’Grady moved to Southern Colorado from Kentucky in 2014. His friends posted various messages on a Facebook page, saying they hoped he rested in peace and that they missed him.
Alec Holtzclaw was O’Grady’s friend from Kentucky. He said he had plans to meet up with O’Grady.
“We had plans for when he came back to Kentucky to see each other. He was going to come back when he turned 18 and he and his friend were going to get an apartment together and turn their lives around,” Holtzclaw said.
