CSPD releases footage of fatal May 18 shooting

Colorado Springs police released a video Tuesday of the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Sean Collins on May 18.

VIEWER WARNING: The video is dark, but from the audio you can hear an exchange of multiple gunshots.

The 4th Judicial Distrcit Attorney’s Office said in a release that Collins was shooting at an officer from two different guns, and that Officer Christopher Laabs was justified in fatally shooting Collins.

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The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office says a man who was shot by a Colorado Springs police officer had opened fire from two different guns in the moments before he was killed.

On Monday, the District Attorney’s Office released its report on the May 18 shooting of 29-year-old Sean Michael Collins, saying that CSPD Officer Christopher Laabs was justified.

We reported when the shooting happened following an hours-long standoff at an apartment complex on Forest Hill Road. Officers were originally called to the apartment for a domestic violence call, and the victim reported to police that Collins threatened to kill her. The victim said he also hit her in the head with a shotgun and tried to take her infant daughter from her.

The first officer at the scene tried to talk to Collins, but he backed up inside the apartment and refused to come out. He told police he wouldn’t leave, wouldn’t surrender, and didn’t want to go back to prison.

After a few hours, tactical enforcement officers ordered Collins to come out peacefully before executing a search and arrest warrant inside the building. The officers used flashbang devices to distract Collins, and immediately after they went off, Collins fired two shots from a shotgun, according to the district attorney’s report.

Officers threw tear gas into the building, and Collins began firing from a handgun. One bullet hit the driver’s side window of a tactial unit BearCat, and an officer who was nearby was hit in the hand by shrapnel. At least two bullets also went into a nearby apartment that was occupied by two women and two small children, according to the report.

Eventually, the tear gas forced Collins to come out of the apartment, and he began firing from his handgun. Body camera footage captured the muzzle flashes, according to the report, and that’s when Laabs returned fire. Laabs fired six times and hit Collins six times, according to the report.

Officers found two handguns on Collins’ body, along with another handgun inside the front door and a shotgun inside the bedroom where Collins was firing from. Officers also found guns and knives related to the earlier domestic incident, along with body armor.

The 4th DA’s office says Laabs acted reasonably and was justified in using deadly force, so no charges will be filed.

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