Updated 7:15 p.m. June 3, 2026: The Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday said that Colorado Springs Police Department officer James McKinstry was legally justified in using force when he shot a woman reaching for a gun inside a police cruiser. Read the full decision letter .
A woman shot and injured Saturday night by a Colorado Springs officer is believed to have been reaching for a gun inside a police vehicle, according to the department.
Colorado Springs officers responded to a disturbance call about a man chasing a woman at 10 p.m. Saturday, . Callers told dispatchers that one of the two had a gun.
When officers arrived, they found a woman who matched the description of the woman involved in the disturbance, police said. The woman, who officers said had a knife, ran from the police and ignored commands to stop.
The unidentified woman dropped the knife as she ran, leading officers on a chase to a Colorado Springs Police Department vehicle parked near Delaware and Marion drives, .
She then got into the cruiser and refused officers’ commands to exit, according to the department.
Police said the woman reached for a shotgun in the car as officers were trying to remove her. That’s when one officer fired one shot, striking the woman.
Paramedics took the woman to the hospital, where she is expected to survive, police said.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office will lead the investigation into the shooting and the officer’s use of force.
![[prison 19] Caption: This is Cellhouse 1, Pod A, from ground level inside the Sterling Correctional Facility which is located outside of Sterling, Colorado Thursday afternoon. Photographer: LEW SHERMAN Title: FREELANCE Credit: SPECIAL TO THE POST City: Sterling State: CO Country: USA Date: 19990617 ObjectName: prison 19 Keyword: PUBDATE____1999_06_22](/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20151207__denverpostp1.jpg?w=538 "20151207__denverpost~p1.jpg")
