The 22nd Judicial District Attorney on Monday cleared Montezuma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Alexander Hill and deputy Cayden Worcester of potential charges in the fatal shooting of John Thompson in July.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the case, determined that criminal charges against the peace officers were not warranted.
The CBI presented their findings to District Attorney Christian Hatfield. CBI’s investigation included recorded interviews with Hill and Worcester, witness statements, police communications and reports, photographs and video recordings.
Hatfield said that after hearing CBI’s full presentation and reviewing the evidence provided, he ruled that there was no basis for criminal charges against Hill or Worcester, based on Colorado law.
“Applying the applicable statutes to the facts presented through this investigation, neither Sgt. Hill nor deputy Worcester are subject to criminal prosecution for their actions,” Hatfield said.
Hatfield said that based on the information he had been provided, he was able to learn that Hill and Worcester were confronted by Thompson while they tried to do a welfare check on his mother in Mancos on July 18.
When officers arrived after 9 a.m., Thompson was standing in the middle of his driveway, telling officers that his mother was inside and he needed help, but the Sheriff’s Office was not “letting people on the property.” After arguing the point, he told the officers, “You’re about to be dead.”
He then reportedly retrieved a .284 Winchester lever-action rifle from a truck before walking toward the officers “with the rifle in a ‘low-ready’ position.” They ordered him multiple times to put the weapon down, but Thompson kept urging them to shoot him.
After multiple commands to put the gun down, Thompson put the rifle to his shoulder in a “firing position.”
“Take that,” he said in the audio, according to the report.
Hill and Worcester fired from behind the cover of their patrol vehicle, and Thompson collapsed from the gunshot wounds. Hill and Worcester administered aid until EMS arrived, but he was declared dead.
According to the report, Hill discharged eight rounds, and Worcester fired one. Five of the nine shots hit Thompson, and an autopsy on July 22 said the shots would have been “rapidly fatal.”
Thompson’s rifle was found to have one unused round in the chamber and four in the magazine.
“Sgt. Hill and Deputy Worcester’s use of deadly force did not violate Colorado law. This District Attorney will not be pursuing charges against them for their actions in this incident,” Hatfield said.
“They did what they're trained to do, and what the law allowed,” Sheriff Steve Nowlin told The Journal on Tuesday. “We’re all about preserving life, but unfortunately, they had to do what they had to do to save their own. It’s a sad deal, but I'm so grateful that they're OK, and they'll be back to work real soon.”
“There’s a loss of life and I just feel bad, but unfortunately, this is what we're having to deal with more and more all the time now,” Nowlin said. “We’re all placed in this situation, and at any time it can happen.”
Though “knowingly or intentionally” shooting a human is “generally prohibited by statute as an assault or attempted homicide” in Colorado, Hatfield said the criminal code “specifies certain circumstances in which the use of physical force by a peace officer is justified.”
Colorado Revised Statute 18-1-707 allows use of force by police officers “if nonviolent means would be ineffective in effecting an arrest, preventing an escape, or preventing an imminent threat of injury to the peace officer or another person.”
Use of force may be used during an arrest if the suspect’s conduct includes “the use or threatened use of deadly physical force” or if the suspect “poses an immediate threat to the peace officer or another person.”
“We find in our review of this incident that no conduct by Sgt. Hill or Deputy Worcester rose to the level of a criminal offense. It is the conclusion of my office that, based on the applicable law and the facts and circumstances of this case, law enforcement’s actions during this incident were legally justified as set forth in CRS 18-1-707. Sgt. Hill and Deputy Worcester were legally justified in their use of reasonable and appropriate physical force in response to an imminent risk of death or great bodily injury to themselves. As a result, my office will not be filing criminal charges against Sgt. Hill, Deputy Worcester, or any other member of law enforcement involved in this incident,” Hatfield said.
“I appreciate the cooperation provided by the MCSO and the extremely thorough investigation conducted by CBI,” Hatfield said.
