The man shot by Colorado Springs police officers while fleeing on foot earlier this month struck a woman across the face with a gun in the city’s downtown area before pointing it at another man, security footage released Thursday shows.
Around 12:48 a.m. on Sunday, June 9, three officers with the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Downtown Area Response Team were patrolling on foot along South Nevada Avenue when they heard a disturbance up the street, according to a video briefing released Thursday by the department.
As one officer — identified by the Colorado Springs Police Department as Benjamin Hengel — moved toward the disturbance, he saw a woman fall to the ground and drew his stun gun, police department spokesperson Joe Frabbiele said in the video.
Another man chasing the suspect suddenly stopped and put his hands up, Frabbiele said. When Hengel went to move around the man, Hengel saw the suspect pointing a gun in his direction and drew his department-issued handgun.
Security footage from a nearby building before the shooting shows the suspect — 21-year-old Al’Morion Germany — backing away from a woman while the two have what appears to be a verbal disagreement.
In the video, Germany points what appears to be a gun at the woman before striking her across the face with it, knocking her to the ground.
Germany turns to run and is quickly followed by three Colorado Springs police officers, including Hengel, security footage shows.
Footage from Hengel’s body camera shows officers yelling at Germany to drop the gun, following him down South Nevada Street and continuing the chase around the corner onto Pikes Peak Avenue when Germany ignored police commands to stop.
Frabbiele said Germany was running toward a parking lot the officers knew usually had a lot of foot traffic at that time of night.
When Hengel turned the corner, he fired three shots at Germany, striking the man twice, body camera footage shows. The man continued to run after being shot and was taken into custody in the 100 block of East Pikes Peak Avenue.
Officers provided medical aid until paramedics arrived and Germany was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Frabbiele said.
Frabbiele said a loaded 10 mm Glock handgun was found near where Germany was shot, but did not confirm the gun belonged to Germany. The 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office are investigating the shooting and will determine if Hengel’s use of force was justified.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
