A 61-year-old man pulled a handgun on Douglas County sheriff deputies during a traffic stop before the deputies shot and killed him last month, body camera footage released Monday shows.
Paul Askins of Colorado Springs was wanted on two warrants out of El Paso County on suspicion of second-degree burglary and failure to appear in court when the deputies killed him Aug. 31.
Deputies stopped a black truck at 4:41 p.m. that day after they saw the driver make an unsafe turn on Highway 85 near Sedalia, according to a news release from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
The deputies learned the female driver, who remained unidentified, was under a protective order restraining her from contact with a male subject. The deputies thought a man in the back of the truck matched the description of the person the driver was forbidden from contacting.
The man in the back seat refused to provide his legal name to the three deputies, according to the news release. A deputy then approached the truck and asked the man to step outside, footage from the deputy’s body camera shows.
Askins peered out of the rolled-down window before opening the door and pointing a handgun at the deputy.
The deputy fell backward while shooting at Askins and shouting “Don’t move,” the footage shows.
Another deputy’s body camera footage shows all three responding officers shooting at Askins, who falls to the ground. A woman is heard screaming in the background.
Askins died of his wounds. He was not the person associated with the protective order against the driver as deputies initially believed, spokesman Sgt. Jeff Miller said Monday.
None of the deputies were injured in the shooting and the sheriff’s office declined to identify them.
A spokeswoman with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office told the the Denver Post on the day of the shooting that the suspect had fired at deputies. That was incorrect, Miller said Monday. Deputies initially believed Askins fired his gun, but that was later determined to be untrue.
