No charges filed against Colorado Springs officers involved in fatal July shooting
WARNING: The above body camera footage of the fatal shooting of Joshua Vigil contains violent imagery and may be disturbing to some viewers.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- No charges will be filed against three Colorado Springs police officers involved in a fatal shooting that killed 38-year-old Joshua Vigil in July of this year, according to a review from the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
The three officers involved were responding to an incident just after 6 p.m. on July 23 of this year at Fountain and Chelton outside the Fountain Garden Apartments complex. At 5:51 p.m., Colorado Springs Police Department received a call regarding a suspicious person, who appeared to be intoxicated and holding a firearm, according to the release from the D.A.'s office.
Officers found the individual -- later identified as Vigil -- at a park near the 2200 block of Ventura Drive. When officers arrived, Vigil was arguing with three females, who were later identified as Vigil's daughters and estranged wife. Officers watched Vigil enter and exit a red Mustang several times while holding a firearm in his right hand by his side, according to the D.A.'s report.
Officers drew their weapons and gave Vigil multiple commands to drop the weapon. Vigil did not comply and instead told officers he wasn't going to drop the gun, got back into his vehicle and returned holding a second firearm by the barrel and cursed at officers. He then drove away at a high rate of speed.
While officers were conducting interviews with witnesses, they learned that Vigil had earlier menaced his family members with a gun and was facing felony charges prior to that incident.
Then, at about 6:12 p.m., an officer spotted a red Mustang that had struck a cement barrier in the 1200 block of Shasta Drive. The vehicle was empty and the airbags had deployed. The officer walked to the corner of Shasta Drive and E. Fountain Blvd. and saw a man matching the suspect's description walking towards the Fountain Garden Apartment complex.
That's where officers encountered Vigil and fired their weapons. Vigil later died of his injuries.
According to the report from the D.A.'s office, Vigil was menacing residents -- including children -- with a firearm outside the apartment complex. Vigil then entered the complex's vestibule, still menacing with his firearm, and tried to convince two women to unlock the door to the lobby area. Both women saw his firearm and fled the lobby.
That's when the three responding officers -- Aragon, Jones and Keller -- arrived on scene. Officers Jones and Aragon gave repeated commands to Vigil to put his hands up, but Vigil refused to comply and "continued to pace with the weapon in his hand," according to the D.A.'s Office.
At about 6:17 p.m. Aragon saw Vigil "rotate his body and right hand, as if to either fire at, or take cover from, officers," the report reads. An apartment resident walking through the lobby at the time of the incident corroborated the officer's account, the D.A.'s Office says.
That's when Aragon fired first, followed by Jones. Sgt. Keller fired as well when he saw the suspect raise his arm with the weapon and saw smoke and muzzle flash from the suspect's gun, the report says.
Vigil was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Vigil's weapon was recovered from inside the vestibule, and seven casings found inside the vestibule were tested and found to be consistent with having been fired from Vigil's weapon, according to the D.A.'s report.
A toxicology report revealed that Vigil was under the influence of amphetamine, cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol, thc-cooh, hydrozychloroquine and carmazapine at the time of the shooting.
All three officers were placed on routine administrative leave for the duration of the investigation by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
The officers were placed back on routine duty several days after the incident, according to CSPD's public information officer.
The report from the D.A.'s office made note that prior to this incident, Aragon had made a statement captured on his body camera that the D.A.'s office found to be "troubling." At 6:09 p.m. Aragon was sitting in his patrol car at Carmel Middle School with another officer when an unrelated domestic violence situation was aired over the police radio, involving a suspect with a knife.
Aragon said to the other officer, “Let’s just go help, so if we can shoot this dude.” While they were in the process of responding to that call, they were instead rerouted to the incident at the apartment complex. When questioned about that statement, Aragon stated that he was referring to the suspect with the knife, and that he meant they should go help just in case they had to shoot the suspect, according to the D.A.'s report.
The D.A.'s office ultimately decided that the officers were presented with a situation "in which they believed either their safety, or the safety of the residents, was in danger."
In response to the publication of that statement in the D.A.'s report, Colorado Springs police said in a release Monday afternoon that this comment does not reflect how CSPD expects its officers to interact and speak about its citizens.
CSPD has since initiated an internal investigation into the incident, according to the release.
The following is a statement from Chief Niski of CSPD regarding the D.A.'s decision to include Aragon's comment in their public report:
“I am disappointed in the District Attorney’s decision to include information that was irrelevant to the incident involving Mr. Vigil. While Officer Aragon’s comment was inappropriate, the District Attorney added unnecessary confusion by implying it was related to the officer involved shooting. While this in no way justifies or excuses Officer’s Aragon’s comment, we want to make sure the facts are brought forth in a clear and transparent manner, as the public deserves a complete picture with full context.”
Previous coverage:
Update: The three officers involved and the victim of the shooting on Tuesday, July 23 at Fountain and Chelton have been identified, reports the Associated Press.
Police said Friday that Sgt. Mark Keller, along with officers Lucas Aragon and Cole Jones, were involved in Tuesday evening's shooting.
Police say the victim was Joshua Vigil, 38, who died after he was injured in the shooting.
The officers are currently on administrative leave pending an investigation by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
Previous story:
At approximately 6:15 p.m. Tuesday three CSPD officers were involved in a shooting at the 3100 block of Fountain Blvd.
One man was hit by police fire and has been transported to a local hospital with unknown injuries. No officers were injured.
The officers responded to a call just before 6 p.m. reporting a man with a gun on Monterey Rd. When the officers made contact, the man got in his car and drove away. They found his car crashed at the Fountain Garden Apartments, about five minutes south of his initial location. The officers caught up with the suspect as he approached the apartment complex and shots were fired.
The three officers involved have since been placed on administrative leave and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office will take over the investigation. Janet Kirby with the Sheriff's Office says that because the investigation is ongoing residents will not yet be allowed back into their buildings.
This is a developing story. Check back at KRDO.com for updates.
