COLORADO SPRINGS — Tuesday afternoon, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers released the following statement on the officer involved shooting from this past weekend that led to protests in downtown Colorado Springs on Monday.
“The City of Colorado Springs and CSPD recognize the concerns of many citizens of our community following the officer-involved shooting of Devon Bailey on Saturday night. It is in the best interest of everyone involved, and our entire community, to ensure that the incident is fully and effectively investigated and an appropriate conclusion is reached. We know that there can be frustration with the time this takes, but we cannot compromise the investigation by failing to spend the appropriate time gathering the facts; that would serve no one. We pledge that the City and CSPD will work cooperatively and diligently with the investigating agency, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, to ensure a thorough evaluation of the evidence, and there is a robust process in place to accomplish this. The evidence gathered by the EPSO will be provided to the district attorney who will review the evidence and apply the Colorado law regarding use of force by police officers. The DA can decide whether or not to bring charges or refer the matter to a Grand Jury to make the determination. If the DA decides not to charge an officer with criminal conduct, he is required by law to issue a public report explaining his findings. A Grand Jury, in its discretion, can issue a report concerning its decision. A credible investigation and charging decision takes time and I ask the community to exercise patience as we allow the investigative and judicial process to work.”
Shortly before this statement was released, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office identified the man killed in the shooing as 19-year-old Devon Malik Bailey.
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