Colorado Springs police released body camera footage from four
officers Thursday afternoon of the fatal shooting of De’Von Bailey
earlier this month.The graphic video shows police as they approach
Bailey, 19, and Lawrence Stoker, Bailey’s 19-year-old cousin, on Aug. 3.aluminum die casting manufacturer
As the first officer approaches the two, Bailey is seen touching his
pocket. The officer tells him to keep his hands out of his pockets and
explains that police are investigating an armed robbery and looking for
two suspects that match their description. Bailey says “Oh, I didn’t
touch him.”
The officer then asks Bailey if he goes by “Spazz.” Bailey shakes his head and says, “No, sir.”In a stern but calm tone, the officer tells the two to put their hands up and tells them not to reach for their waist. He says police are going to check to see if they have a weapon. A second officer comes up behind the two and approaches Bailey.
As the second officer approaches, Bailey turns his head to the left behind him, then runs.The first officer chases after him and is heard yelling, “Hands up,” three times before firing. Eight gunshots go off. Sgt. Alan Van’t Land and Officer Blake Evenson fired their guns, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. The gunshots appear to hit Bailey in the back.
Bailey falls to the ground and then puts his hands up. Officers tell him to get down on the ground and Bailey rolls over on his stomach.In a statement after the release of the video, Bailey's family said they are "devastated at having seen this evidence of the wholly unjustified killing of their beloved family member." The family will hold a wake for De'Von Bailey tonight and his funeral tomorrow. They are requesting privacy from both the public and the media.
Darold Killmer, a lawyer with for the Bailey family said the release of the body camera footage has made it a "crushingly difficult day" for the family.
"The video shows that there was no evidence to support that anybody was imminently at risk of being killed or harmed," Killmer said. "The video shows that he was doing everything within his power in the six or eight or ten steps that he could take to get away to, in fact, get away.... He did not have a weapon in his hand and had not shown any weapon when he was shot in the back."
