Updated 8:30 a.m. Dec. 31, 2025: 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason announced criminal charges will not be filed against the three Adams County sheriff’s deputies — Eric Dobitz, Brandon Reinhardt and Claudio Hernandez — who shot Micah McCartney on Nov. 30, 2024. Read about the decision .
Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man Saturday evening in Adams County east of Westminster, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies responded to the 7600 block of Heather Place at 4:42 p.m. Saturday, according to a Sunday news release from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
deputies were conducting a welfare check and were in contact with a man “for several minutes” before the shooting, which was reported to dispatchers at 5:20 p.m.
The man was armed with “an axe or similar style weapon” when he approached deputies, who told him several times to drop the weapon before shooting him, sheriff’s officials said in the news release.
Paramedics took the unidentified man to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries, sheriff’s officials said Sunday morning.
The Adams County Coroner’s Office will identify him at a later date.
Sheriff’s officials said the incident is being investigated by the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The sheriff’s department said all deputies involved have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is under investigation. The number of involved deputies was not available on Sunday.
