Colorado officer cleared in shooting of man with pellet gun

The Larimer County District Attorney’s Office says a man shot by a Fort Collins police officer while holding a pellet gun had been attempting “suicide by cop.”

Austin Snodgrass was shot outside a home Jan. 21. He is recovering and will be jailed on suspicion of felony menacing with a deadly weapon and attempting to influence a public servant.

District Attorney Cliff Riedel says in an opinion released Tuesday that Officer Matthew Brede acted lawfully in shooting Snodgrass as the suspect walked toward him while pointing a pellet gun at him.

The opinion says Snodgrass admitted to luring police to his home with a false report that his roommate had been stabbed. Riedel says Snodgrass lied to get officers to shoot him because he did not want to live anymore.