A prosecutor and at least one victim of a 2010 shooting at Deer Creek Middle School are fighting the proposed temporary unsupervised state hospital release of a man found not guilty by reason of insanity to four counts of attempted murder after shooting two eighth graders.
A jury found Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood to attempted murder on Oct. 5, 2011. The jury also found Eastwood guilty of possession of a weapon on school grounds. He was held for 18 months on the weapon charge and is currently being held for one day to life on the insanity finding.
On Feb. 23, 2010, Eastwood, then 32, shot two eighth graders, and Matthew Thieu, at the school Eastwood had attended as a child.
On Aug. 31, Dr. Kimberly Nordstrom, superintendent of the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo, filed a notice to Jefferson County District Court that Eastwood would be temporarily released without supervision for rehabilitative purposes if there were no objections.
District Court Judge Laura Ann Tighe has granted a hearing on the issue, which is scheduled on Dec. 15. The hearing will help authorities determine whether Eastwood will be granted additional privileges outside the state hospital. In 2015, the hospital allowed him temporary supervised privileges after a judge required him to wear an ankle monitor while he is outside the locked facility.
District Attorney Peter Weir filed an objection to the proposed release on Sept. 25.
“The district attorney believes that the defendant poses a substantial danger to the community and should not be allowed the privilege of temporary physical removal for treatment and rehabilitation,” Weir’s objection says.
The objection said that at Eastwood’s trial numerous witnesses testified that he is and had a psychotic delusional disorder that made him extremely dangerous to others.
Weir’s office contacted the victims, their family members and school district personnel and they have voiced concerns.
“We strongly believe that if it wasn’t for the teachers at Deer Creek Middle School many individuals would have been hurt and or potentially at a loss of life,” Thieu’s mother, Noelle Thieu wrote in a letter to the judge.
She wrote that her son was gravely injured and still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“We are happy that Eastwood has stabilized his mental illness with medication, however, we believe that allowing such privileges will only open the door for more crime on behalf of Eastwood’s mental illnesses,” Noelle Thieu wrote.
Knowing that Eastwood had been physically abused and bullied by family and friends, the Thieu family believes that any negative interaction in the public could trigger a violent reaction.
“We encourage that he does not have the opportunity to hurt anyone, especially with his diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia, history of alcohol and cannabis abuse, history of loss of consciousness and problems related to interaction with the legal system,” the Thieu family’s letter says. “We wish to promote a safe and healthy community.”
Eastwood’s father, , has said his son talked a lot with imaginary people. He’d get mad at them and scream and curse. The younger Eastwood, nicknamed “Bo,” had been studying at Aims Community College in Fort Lupton for his GED for two years but was unable to pass the test while dealing with mental health issues prior to the shooting.
