Denver’s Civil Service Commission has upheld the firing of a Denver police officer who used unauthorized ammunition and a rifle without training during a shoot-out that injured an innocent bystander.
Robert Fitzgibbons, a 13-year veteran, in which bullet fragments from the AR-15 he used struck Diamond Demmer, a bystander. Fitzgibbons, arguing the discipline was excessive, appealed to a three-member Civil Service hearing panel, .
In the decision released Wednesday, commissioners wrote that the punishment was appropriate. They agreed with the panel that he ignored multiple departmental rules, including those on the proper use of deadly force.
“Compounding his extraordinarily poor judgment, Officer Fitzgibbons has refused to take responsibility for his actions,” the commission wrote. “We find that the factual record provides ample support for the panel’s conclusion that Officer Fitzgibbons’ behavior constitutes a willful and wanton disregard for Department policy and a lack of integrity.”
Fitzgibbons and Cpl. John Schledwitz were helping with crowd-control outside Club Vinyl on Broadway early that morning. An off-duty sheriff’s deputy pointed to a man running to his car and told them he was getting a gun. The officers saw the man, Sorl Shead, digging under the seat and ordered him to leave, officials testified before the panel last year, but Shead pulled out a gun and fired at them.
The corporal fired a paintball gun and then switched to his service revolver. Fitzgibbons, armed with the AR-15 he owned, fired that weapon, though he was untrained to use it.
He compounded his offense by , which are more likely to fragment than department-issued bullets. A police supervisor testified that Fitzgibbons fired more rounds than needed in a style that was on a city street.
Sadie Gurman: 303-954-1661, sgurman@denverpost.com or
