Man Shot By Westminster Police Apparently Unarmed, Developmentally Disabled
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - CBS4 has learned that a 22-year-old man shot last month by Westminster Police during a no-knock drug raid was apparently unarmed and is suspected of being developmentally disabled.
"I'm harmless," said the man, who requested his name not be used.
He claims he has Attention Deficit Disorder although his sister told CBS4 her brother has learning disabilities and she suspects her brother is developmentally disabled, but has never been medically assessed.
Westminster Police Investigator Cheri Spottke said she couldn't comment on whether the man was unarmed when he was shot.
"It's under investigation by the Adams County Critical Incident Team. It's moving along well. They hope to be done pretty quickly," said Spottke.
She said the case will be presented to the Adams County District Attorney who will decide if there was legal justification for the use of force.
Westminster's SWAT team raided the house at 8030 Grove Street at about 10:30 a.m. April 21. According to a search warrant in the case, they were looking for guns and drugs. They found no weapons but confiscated small amounts of marijuana and methamphetamine from a shed behind the home.
According to information gathered during the CBS4 Investigation, there were two people inside the home at the time of the raid, the 22-year-old man and a family friend, David Paulon.
Paulon had just gone to the bathroom when he heard police in the house.
"Just then I open the door, then I saw the muzzle flame," said Paulon.
Inches from the bathroom where Paulon was standing was a bedroom door. The 22-year-old said he had been sleeping but woke up when he heard the noise and opened his bedroom door and saw a police officer in the hallway.
"I raised my hands and was going to get down on the ground and they fired. I could have been killed. I didn't like that. I was so scared I thought he was going to kill me," said the shooting victim.
The shooting victim says he had nothing in his hands.
"I just walked out of my room," he said.
Paulon, who was only inches away, verified that account.
"He opened the door to see what the commotion was and pretty much got shot. He didn't have nothing on him -- all he had was his hands," said Paulon. "He had his hands in the air. I dont see any reason for it at all."
Paulon said he is "110 percent sure" the 22-year-old was unarmed.
The man showed CBS4 where the bullet entered his right armpit. He and Paulon maintain the only way he could have been shot through the armpit is if he had his hands in the air to surrender. The man was hospitalized for 24 hours at St. Anthony Central Hospital. The bullet remains lodged in his back.
Based on what police found at the home, they arrested the man's mother on drug charges and have a warrant out for his father.
The shooting victim's right arm remains in a sling.
"It hurts every time I lift my arm up -- it hurts. I could have been killed," he said.
