Police release body cam footage of July 5th fatal officer-involved shooting in downtown
Michael Logerwell
NOTE: The above video is straight from the Colorado Springs Police Department, unedited by KRDO. The video shows the shooting in full view. Viewer discretion is advised.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Springs Police Department is releasing the officer-worn body camera footage from the shooting that killed 26-year-old Alex Martinez-Sarmiento in the early morning hours of July 5 in Downtown Colorado Springs.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man dies in police shooting overnight in downtown Colorado Springs
In the video released by the police department, Ira Cronin, CSPD public information officer, says it all started with a 911 call.
Portions of the call are included in the 11-minute video. The caller tells the 911 operator, “There’s an individual with, it looks like a semi-automatic weapon. A black male in the parking lot. He’s screaming at some people.”
Police officers then responded to the area, a parking lot near the intersection of Pikes Peak Ave. and Tejon St., where they didn’t find the man fitting the caller’s description, but found a group arguing.
The officers approached the group, unrelated to the 911 call. The incident didn’t escalate, no rifle was found, and no arrests were made.
Several minutes later, at 1:37 a.m., CSPD says its officers saw the same group arguing again while crossing Tejon St. Again, officers went to break up the argument, and no arrests were made.
Captions blurred by KRDO13 for vulgar language.
Cronin says that during this time, the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) was monitoring the group via security cameras.
Then, police say that the Real Time Crime Center identified the person with the rifle who was the subject of the previous 911 call. RTCC officers identified a male who’d been in the group contacted by police twice already that night as the person reported to be carrying the rifle.
In the video, Cronin says that after learning this information, officers were working to determine their next steps.
Then at 1:49 a.m., the Real Time Crime Center officer saw the group get into another argument. Then saw that same individual, the one identified as having brandished a rifle, pull a handgun with an illegal extended magazine out of his white car and tuck it into his waistband.
Officers then rushed over to the area of the parking lot closest to Pikes Peak Ave. Body camera footage shows the officer behind him makes first contact with the suspect. Initially, he puts his hands up, but then turns and starts running away. The officer can be heard telling the suspect to put his hands up, then telling others that the suspect is armed.
Cronin says the suspect reached towards his waistband while running away, and that’s when one officer fired three shots, hitting the suspect, later identified as Alex Martinez-Sarmiento, in the back.
First responders rendered medical aid to Martinez-Sarmiento but were unsuccessful, and he died in the parking lot.
Cronin says officers recovered a loaded Glock 17 with an illegal extended magazine from the right pant leg of the suspect. Cronin then says officers recovered another handgun, a Glock 43 with a scratched-off serial number, from a vehicle the suspect was seen getting into. The rifle has still not been located.
Captions from CSPD video.
The 4th judicial district attorney’s office is investigating the officer’s use of force and determining if it complied with Colorado Law.