Larimer County sheriff releases police video from fatal shooting near Windsor

0:00 - Intro
1:31 - Broadcast audio
2:43 - Body cam 1
4:20 - Body cam 2
4:41 - Body cam 3
5:47 - Body cam 4
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The Larimer County Sheriff's Office on Friday released audio and body camera video footage from a November fatal shooting involving deputies who had stopped a suspect near Crossroads Boulevard and Centerra Parkway in Windsor.

The 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office said in a letter dated Feb. 9 that the actions of three deputies were justified in the fatal shooting of Justin Anderson, 51, on Nov. 21, 2022. In that letter, District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said deputies Justin Napolitano, Jonathon Wedemeyer and Jaime Smith would not face any criminal charges related to the shooting.

According to previous Coloradoan reporting, deputies had followed the suspect north on Interstate 25 from the Berthoud exit after attempting to stop him for a nonfunctioning headlight and speeding. In the video released Friday, Sheriff John Feyen said the vehicle had a missing front license plate.

Deputies had noticed him while conducting a "proactive patrol" for drug activity at a gas station. According to the DA's letter, Anderson evaded deputies, and a vehicle pursuit ensued. Napolitano reported that during this pursuit he learned that Anderson had multiple active felony warrants and the truck he was driving was connected to another eluding incident.

When Anderson's truck exited I-25 at Crossroads Boulevard, deputies used a precision immobilization technique to stop the vehicle. They boxed in the truck with their vehicles.

The video released Friday includes the incident as recorded by each of the deputies' body cameras. It shows the moment Napolitano gets out of his vehicle and fires three shots. Anderson's truck is then seen pinched between law enforcement vehicles, and its engine begins revving as deputies get out of their vehicles and point their weapons at the truck and fire.

McLaughlin wrote that Napolitano saw Anderson reach for something from behind the passenger seat, and then saw him loading a high-capacity magazine into a rifle Napolitano believed "would defeat the soft armor he and the other deputies wore." He later told investigators "that he was convinced this was a deadly force situation and Anderson was a second away from shooting and killing him or other deputies."

Napolitano shot at Anderson three times in about four seconds, McLaughlin said. The bullet believed to have killed Anderson came from Napolitano's gun.

Wedemeyer and Smith fired their weapons when they saw the truck's tires spinning after Napolitano's third shot. McLaughlin wrote that Wedemeyer thought Anderson was trying to escape and would run over Napolitano, and Smith believed he was trying to kill Napolitano and thought his life as well as her own were at risk due to the acceleration. Wedemeyer shot at the truck five times in about seconds, and Smith shot at it two or three times.

Additional responding deputies, who took over the scene, found Anderson deceased in the truck with a .22 caliber rifle in his hand. Fentanyl pills and drug paraphernalia were also recovered from the suspect's pocket, Feyen said.