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Family of De’Von Bailey files civil rights lawsuit against Colorado Springs Police

The 19-year-old was shot in the back while running away from officers who were investigating a report of a robbery.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The family of the 19-year-old Colorado Springs man who was fatally shot by police while he was running away from officers has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the department.

The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday, alleges that the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) violated De’Von Bailey’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights when he was killed on Aug. 3, 2019.

A grand jury declined to file charges against the officers who shot Bailey last year, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigations also said they would not prosecute them.

Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May said the officers in Bailey’s death were cleared based on their belief that he was armed, as well as under the fleeing felon statute.

Those officers have since been identified as Sgt. Alan Van’t Land and Officer Blake Evenson.

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Police first encountered Bailey after receiving a report of a robbery in the 2400 block of East Fountain Boulevard in Colorado Springs. The victim identified Bailey and a friend of his as the perpetrators.

In Thursday’s lawsuit, Bailey’s family alleged that the supposed victim had been in a disagreement with the 19-year-old and his friend earlier in the day, and had set them up for an encounter with police.

Officers asked Bailey to put up his hands. He is seen in body camera footage running away, and he was shot in the back multiple times before crumbling to the ground.

Body camera footage shows officers cutting the pockets of his shorts and finding a gun. Police alleged that they believed Bailey had been reaching for the weapon.

“Multiple witnesses to the shooting confirm that Mr. Bailey never looked back towards the officers as he ran, and never made any threatening gesture or motion that suggested he was going to turn towards them,” the civil rights lawsuit reads. “It was clear that Mr. Bailey was simply running away, to escape from the police.”

At no point before defendants Van’t Land and Evenson searched. Mr. Bailey did they see that Mr. Bailey possessed a gun. Before they shot Mr. Bailey multiple times in the back, defendants Van’t Land and Evenson never saw that Mr. Bailey had a gun, Bailey made no statements indicating he had a gun, and Mr. Bailey never displayed the gun.”

Read the full lawsuit below:

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