Mother of 21-year-old man shot by Colorado Springs Police still in shock, says he was a ‘homebody’
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A 21-year-old man is facing a long road to recovery and potentially faces charges after being shot by an officer with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD). His family is shocked, saying he was a 'homebody' who would rarely ever find himself in a troubling situation like the one that landed him in police custody.
The incident happened just before 1 a.m. Sunday morning, when officers responded to a "disturbance outside a nightclub near E Pikes Peak Avenue and North Nevada.
That's where Colorado Springs Police said in a report Sunday that they arrived to the scene, and noticed that Amorion Germany had a gun in hand. While trying to approach him and identify themselves, he ran away on foot when they attempted to identify themselves and approach the area where the altercation was taking place.
Officers reported Germany had a gun in his hand, and when he didn't comply with dropping the weapon while running away, they fired shots that hit him.
Germany was then given medical care, and taken into custody. He is facing potential charges, which are unclear at this time, but a court records search shows they're under a broader category of "Assault". He was assigned a $25,000 dollar bond, which has since been posted.
The family says he was struck twice, in the back and the shoulder, shattering his collarbone and also hitting an artery. He has no movement in his forearm arm at this time and remains in the ICU at UCHealth Memorial Hospital.
"I got the phone call around 3:36 a.m. from one of his friends, and I was told that he had been shot," said Latoyia Taylor, Germany's Mother.
Germany is Taylor's only child, who she describes as a "homebody" and someone who rarely ever went out on the weekends, instead watching sports at home.
However, when his friends pried him out of the house to join them at the NOVA Nightclub along South Nevada near East Pikes Peak Avenue last weekend, trouble arose.
"There was an altercation he had inside the club, and then when he came out, [I'm] not sure of what happened. Police then came up, and he ran out, frantic," said Taylor, who was filled in by Germany's friends from that night.
Amorion's Uncle, Antonio Patton described it as a "Fight or Flight" scenario on behalf of his nephew. Who he said ran away upon getting scared by the police. Taylor added that her son was never in the spotlight for bad reasons. He was an honor roll student, went off to Alabama A&M for college, and took care of his cousins and grandma regularly when he was home.
"He's never been a troubled child, never been in trouble, he has a clean background... I just feel like what happened to him, shouldn't have happened," said Taylor.
The shooting stirred strong emotions amongst the family this time of year, as Amorions father, and Taylor's husband, died of gun violence exactly 5 years ago, on June 12, 2019, in Indianapolis. It adds to an already difficult recovery as he remains in the hospital for the foreseeable future.
Germany is due next in court on June 20th, 2024.
Meanwhile, Colorado Springs Police will be releasing a comprehensive video showing their body camera footage, and all related evidence of the shooting on June 29, 2024.
Today, CSPD issued this statement to KRDO13 Investigates:
“As for the use of deadly force by a CSPD officer on the morning of June 9, 2024, on S Nevada, we cannot comment in any way on this incident at this time, as the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is now the investigating agency.
Our use of force policy, General Order 500, is posted on our website for any member of our community to review. I would direct you to section .10, which outlines the circumstances under state law when an officer is justified in using deadly force.
https://public.powerdms.com/CSPD2/list/documents/867211
We are fully committed to transparency with our community regarding this incident. In line with CSPD policy, we are preparing a comprehensive significant event briefing video that will be made available to the public on or before Saturday, June 29th. This video will include all releasable factual information, such as body-worn camera footage, any applicable charges, the name of the officer involved, and the name of the suspect involved. For further details, our significant event briefing video policy is available for review on our website.”
Ira Cronin, Public Relations Manager - CSPD
As noted in the statement, Section .10 of the Use of Deadly Force guidelines are defined as such:
A. An officer is only justified in using deadly force to make an arrest when all of the following
are present:
- All other means of apprehension are unreasonable given the circumstances; AND
- The arrest is for a felony involving conduct that includes a suspect’s use or threatened
use of deadly physical force; AND - The suspect poses an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to the peace
officer or another person; AND - The force employed does not create a substantial risk of injury to other persons.
Officers are prohibited from using deadly force to apprehend a person who is suspected of only a
minor or non-violent offense (C.R.S. § 18-1-707 (2)(a)).
Page 5 of 9
B. Notwithstanding (in spite of) any other provisions in C.R.S. § 18-1-707, an officer is justified
in using deadly force when all of the following are present:
- The officer has an objectively reasonable belief a lesser degree of force is inadequate;
AND - The officer has objectively reasonable grounds to believe, and does believe, that the
officer or another person is in imminent danger of being killed or of receiving serious
bodily injury.
