UPDATE: 17th District Attorney Brian Mason on May 10, 2024, ruled Westminster police Officer Robb Phelps was justified in the fatal shooting of Jeremy Rink on Oct. 1, 2023. Read the DA’s .
A man was shot and killed by a Westminster police officer Sunday night after officers responded to a disturbance at an apartment complex.
Just before 8 p.m. Sunday, officers were called to the 1400 block of 116th Avenue about a man throwing things off a balcony and damaging cars in the parking lot, according to a from the Westminster Police Department.
Police have responded to the address five times since Sept. 29 for reports of a noise disturbance, most recently at 3:45 p.m. that day with a co-responding mental health professional, according to the department. The resident would not answer the door or phone when officers attempted to make contact.
Officers returned to the apartment complex at 7:53 p.m after receiving 911 calls. A co-responder was not dispatched with police because it was an “active disturbance,” according to the department.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a man on the ground, wrestling with several residents of the apartment complex, the release stated.
An officer used his Taser but it wasn’t effective and the unidentified man displayed a gun during the struggle. An officer fired his weapon, shooting the man, according to the release.
Officers on the scene attempted to perform life-saving measures before paramedics transported the unidentified man to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries. The man’s identity will be released by the Adams County Coroner’s Office.
The officer was placed on administrative leave and the incident is being investigated by the 17th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team, which will likely take several months, according to the police department.
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