A parole officer who shot and wounded a man who pulled a gun on her at an Aurora apartment complex in June will not be charged with a crime.
The Adams County district attorney’s office found that parole officer Laurie Strong was justified in shooting Michael Meeks after he pulled a semi-automatic handgun on Strong while officers were making a check on a parolee.
On the morning of June 8, officers Strong and Wesley Trissel were to parolee Jermaine Cloud at 2014 N. Emporia St.
“Officer Strong indicated that she felt her life as well as the lives of the other people in the apartment were in grave danger at the time she fired her weapon,” District Attorney Dave Young wrote in his ruling.
“This was a reasonable conclusion that when this unknown male pulled his handgun out of his waistband he put the lives of Officer Trissel, Jerri Jarvis, Jermaine Cloud and herself in danger,” the ruling said. Jarvis was a visitor in the apartment.
After the officers identified themselves, a physical altercation broke out between Meeks and the officers, and Meeks pulled out a gun. That’s when Strong fired her gun, wounding Meeks.
Meeks, who did not fire a weapon, has been charged with first-degree assault.
