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Fort Lupton police officer indicted on manslaughter charge in deadly January shooting of unarmed man

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Posted at 4:48 PM, Apr 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-12 18:48:11-04

GREELEY, Colo. – A Fort Lupton police officer was indicted Thursday by a Weld County grand jury on one count of manslaughter in relation to his fatal shooting of an unarmed man on Jan. 16.

Officer Zachary Helbig is accused of shooting 46-year-old Shawn Joseph Billinger in the 600 block of 14th Street in Fort Lupton.

According to a news release from the 19th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and prior reporting, Helbig responded to a disturbance call that day around 1:45 p.m. Once at the scene, Helbig started chasing Billinger on foot.

But Billinger started walking quickly toward Helbig as he was yelling “kill me,” according to prosecutors. But Billinger had nothing in his hands at the time.

Billinger was shot once in the chest by Helbig, prosecutors said. He died at the scene.

Helbig’s manslaughter charge is a class 4 felony. His bond was set by a Weld County judge at $50,000.