Body cam footage of apartment shooting involving Colorado Springs Police officers released

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Springs Police Department released body cam footage today from an officer-involved shooting earlier this month.

The curated video, made up of details narrated by CSPD, photos of the weapon, body-camera footage, and civilian footage, is available at the end of this article. Warning, the video does contain graphic content.

On February 6 at 1:23 a.m., the police received three separate 911 calls. Two were about gunshots fired near The Grove Apartments. The other caller stated a man with a large gun was knocking at her window and telling her to come outside.

Officers arrived within ten minutes and heard the suspect, 44-year-old Evan Woolard, yelling loudly and challenging the officers to knock on his door. According to CSPD, officers had responded to previous calls related to Woolard.

Woolard later left his apartment and continued to shout at officers, who identified their presence and gave commands for him to surrender.

According to CSPD, Woolard did not follow the commands to surrender and instead continued yelling and threatening to kill the officers and their families.

Nearly 20 minutes after the officers arrived at the apartment complex, Woolard began walking toward them with a shotgun. For about 20 seconds, the body camera footage shows the officers telling Woolard to drop the gun or they will shoot him.

According to the footage, one officer said, “He is pointing it at us.”

Instead, the bystander video shows Woolard continuing to move down the stairs of his apartment complex toward the officers. CSPD said Woolard pointed the shotgun at police and that’s when three officers fired their weapons.

The body cam footage and bystander video are inconclusive as to whether Woolard pointed the gun at officers.

After Woolard fell to the ground, the body camera footage shows officers using a ballistic protective shield to approach the suspect while continuing to command him to drop the firearm and push it away, but he never responded.

According to CSPD, it took officers a little longer than one minute to reach Woolard, who they then disarmed and handcuffed. Officers recovered a loaded shotgun, radioed for an ambulance and provided medical treatment. Wollard was pronounced dead on the scene.

The officers involved in this incident are Sergeant Aaron Lloyd, assigned as a patrol supervisor in the Sand Creek Division and an employee of CSPD for 20 years, Officer Stuart Smyth, assigned as a patrol officer in the Sand Creek Division and an employee of CSPD for five years and Officer Steven Nelson, assigned as a patrol officer in the Sand Creek Division and an employee for CSPD for one year.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting. Once completed, the investigation will be sent to the fourth Judicial District District Attorney's Office to determine if the officers’ use of force complied with Colorado law.

This is the first significant event since CSPD implemented its new policy, requiring the department to release body camera footage within 21 days of officer-involved shootings, a use-of-force event that necessitates the response of the Deadly Force Investigation Team or any other police encounter deemed appropriate by the Chief of Police.

The CSPD said all officers will be issued a body-worn camera by July 1.

Watch the video released by CSPD below. The video begins with an officer explaining the incident and what led up to the shooting. The body-camera footage begins at timestamp 2:50.

Warning, the video contains graphic content of the shooting including body-camera footage and footage from a citizen.