ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — No charges will be filed against four police officers from three different departments who discharged their weapons during a deadly confrontation with a robbery suspect last December, according to a letter Tuesday from the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Hunter Lowry, 23, had committed several robberies while armed with a knife at auto parts stores throughout the northern metro area on Dec. 6, 2019, according to an initial release from the Westminster Police Department (WPD).
Just before 8 p.m., the Auto Zone at 901 W. 84th Ave. in Federal Heights was robbed. An employee followed Lowry outside and confronted Lowry near his vehicle, the DA said. During an altercation with Lowry, the employee was cut on the hand and the employee's phone ended up in Lowry's vehicle, according the DA's office.
The employee tracked his phone to a 1605 W. 92nd Ave. and that's where police responded and located Lowry's truck, the DA said. Lowry was outside his vehicle but immediately got back in the truck and fled the area when he spotted officers, according to the DA.
After driving away, Lowry crashed with two other vehicles at the intersection of 92nd Avenue and Federal Boulevard, WPD said. Lowry then ran from the crash scene into an alley where at least two gunshots were heard, according to the DA.
Officers caught up with Lowry and confronted him as he climbed over a fence into a nearby condominium complex, according to the DA.
Police said an officer deployed a Taser which caused Lowry to fall the ground, the DA said. When he fell, a handgun also fell to the ground next to him, according to the decision letter. When Lowry reached for that weapon in "an "apparent effort to point it towards officers," four officers fired their weapons, fatally wounding Lowry, the decision letter says.
Two Westminster officers, one Thornton officer and one Federal Heights officer fired their weapons. According to the medical examiner, Lowry suffered from 26 entrance gunshot wounds, including two possible re-entry wounds.
When the officers were interviewed, each of them said when they fired their weapons they were in fear for their lives and the lives of the other responding officers, according to the decision letter.
The letter also noted that Lowry "continued to ignore their [the officers'] many commands" and said the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges and it would be unlikely to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their actions were not justified.
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