A man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for shooting a Colorado Springs police officer in the head, according to the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi, 32, was found guilty of attempted murder and several other charges, a press release said. The El Paso County jury reached a guilty verdict after hearing evidence and testimony from over 40 witnesses for the 2018 shooting that left officer Cem Duzel with a severe brain injury.
Al Khammasi shot Duzel while drunkenly firing at police after he was kicked out of an Uber, .
Duzel’s brain injury sent him to a Denver clinic for months. In November 2019, he received a Medal of Valor from the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Al Khammasi came to the United States as an Iraqi refugee. He was scheduled for deportation in 2016 until a change in immigration law spelled out that a prior felony trespassing conviction was not adequate for deportation.
