DENVER — Federal prosecutors will not pursue charges in the fatal police shooting of a Colorado Springs man in August, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced on Friday.
Bailey, 19, was shot by officers on Aug. 3, after police had responded to a report of a robbery in a Colorado Springs neighborhood. Two officers arrived and found Bailey and another man and told the two that they matched the description of the robbery suspects.
As one officer approached Bailey to search for a weapon, Bailey took off running. The officers then fired at least eight shots at Bailey as he ran away, striking him three times in the lower back and once in the arm.
He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Edited: Body camera video shows Bailey running from Colorado Springs police as he was fatally shot
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated whether the shooting violated Bailey's constitutional rights and concluded that it did not. The U.S. Attorney's Office also reviewed the case and determined that "although undoubtedly devastating to his family, friends, and community," the shooting "did not result from any willful violation of Mr. Bailey's constitutional rights."
An El Paso County grand jury in November concluded that the two officers who shot Bailey — Sgt. Alan Vant'Land and officer Blake Evenson — were justified in their actions.
Bailey's shooting death sparked outrage among his family and their supporters, who called for an independent review of the shooting.
Mari Newman, the attorney for the Bailey family, said she was not surprised at the outcome and claimed the government was “embarrassed,” so it released the news on a Friday afternoon.
She said that her office was continuing to prepare a civil lawsuit.
