Editor’s note: Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael J. Allen on April 15, 2024, determined that Colorado Springs Police Officer Brian Kelly and Colorado Springs Tactical Enforcement Unit Officer Matthew Waters were justified in shooting Benjamin Annaboli. Read the decision letter .
The man Colorado Springs police officers shot in August after he reportedly pulled a gun on them died at a hospital sometime after the shooting, Colorado Springs Police Deputy Chief Mary Rosenoff posted Wednesday on X.
The video identified the man as Benjamin Annaboli, 37.
Significant Event Briefing: Officer-Involved Shooting, August 17, 2023
The following Video provides a summary of releasable facts, circumstances, and information currently known to investigators regarding an officer-involved shooting in Colorado Springs on August 17, 2023.
— Colorado Springs Police Department (@CSPDPIO)
U.S. Marshals and parole officers observed him on Aug. 17 in the parking lot of a hotel at 1700 Aeroplaza Drive and identified him as a “violent offender with several outstanding arrest warrants for felony criminal offenses” when they requested assistance from CSPD’s Tactical Enforcement Unit, Rosenoff said.
Tactical enforcement officers went to the hotel and attempted to arrest Annaboli, but he ran away on foot toward the hotel “while holding a handgun in each of his hands,” Rosenoff said.
Annaboli refused multiple officers’ commands to drop the guns, Rosenoff said, and pointed one at an officer.
A canine officer then released his canine to try and stop him, but Annaboli kept running and tried to fight the dog off while it bit him.
Two officers then shot Annaboli, and he fell to the ground.
Edited body-worn camera footage released with the briefing video shows an officer stepping out of his police vehicle with a rifle and shooting at Annaboli multiple times.
Drone footage shows the canine officer shooting Annaboli with his handgun as Annaboli approaches the hotel’s front door while bystanders run away from the area.
The two officers were identified as Brian Kelly, the canine handler who is part of the specialized enforcement division and has been with the CSPD for 22 years, and Matthew Waters, a specialized enforcement division officer with the CSPD for 11 years.
The officers found one of the handguns on the ground next to him and the other still in Annaboli’s hand.
The body-worn camera footage also shows multiple officers attempting to apply tourniquets and first aid to Annaboli’s injuries.
Annaboli was then taken to a hospital where he died. The briefing video did not specify when Annaboli died, but a CSPD spokesperson said in an email Annaboli died the same day, Aug. 17.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting and will send the results of the investigation to the Fourth Judicial District’s District Attorney’s Office.
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