A federal judge summarily dismissed a civil lawsuit against the Park County Sheriff’s Office filed by two wounded deputies and the family of a Park County deputy killed during a .
The by the family of Nate Carrigan and deputies Kolby Martin and Travis Threlkel, who were injured in the shooting, accused Sheriff Fred Wegener and Capt. Mark Hancock of for not mobilizing SWAT officers to arrested Wirth, who had a .
“The events of February 24, 2016 were unquestionably tragic … As terrible and unnecessary as those events were, they are part of the inherent risks that law-enforcement officers agree to take on when they take up their badge. As such, the Constitution does not provide the plaintiffs a remedy,” Senior U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger wrote in her Friday decision.
The shooting happened on Feb. 24, 2016 when deputies went to Wirth’s home with the intent of evicting him. It ended with the deaths of 58-year-old Wirth and Carrigan and the injuries of Threlkel and Martin.
Wirth was known to be armed and dangerous and to harbor anti-government and anti-law enforcement sentiments and had recently made threats to “shoot the first cop (he) sees,” among other threats, Krieger’s decision says. Wirth wanted to commit suicide by cop, Undersheriff Monte Gore had believed, she added. He had ordered Hancock to back off and set up a perimeter if Wirth retreated inside his home.
But when Wirth opened his door initially and then retreated inside, refusing to leave the home, Hancock ordered deputies to ram Wirth’s door down.
When they did so, they were greeted by an onslaught of bullets and the screams of a deputy who had been shot several times, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records. Wirth shot Carrigan 11 times.
