HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office on Monday released video they hope “will correct some inaccurate information” in the deadly shooting of a man killed by a deputy who was responding to a report of a separate shooting inside the Main Event entertainment center in Highlands Ranch last month.
Jalin Seabron, 23, was shot and killed by a Douglas County deputy who claimed the suspect was holding a gun he refused to put down when ordered to do so by law enforcement.
Since then, questions surrounding the deputy’s actions have been raised by family members, as it wasn’t clear from information released by the sheriff’s office in the aftermath of the Feb. 8 shooting whether Seabron presented an immediate danger to the deputy’s life that night.
In a news release that accompanied the footage from the sheriff’s office, a spokesperson from the department said only limited information about the shooting could be released at the time of the incident as deputies were still gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses.
“We believe this video will help clarify the facts surrounding this tragic incident, correct misinformation, and reassure our citizens that our deputy acted within the law,” the spokesperson said Monday.
Body-worn, exterior surveillance video show how deadly shooting unfolded
Deputies allege Seabron was trying to help 23-year-old Nevaeha Rayon Crowley-Sanders escape from the Main Event after she had reportedly shot a woman inside a bathroom before indiscriminately turning the gun against other patrons inside.
In the video, the arriving deputy can be seen arriving at 64 Centennial Boulevard where he encounters Seabron, who is shown holding a firearm in his right hand and moving it around as he’s walking around a vehicle parked in front of the venue.
An unidentified woman can then be seen coming into view as she pleads with the armed deputy to wait. Seabron, whose back is turned toward the deputy, is seen walking toward the passenger side of the vehicle and opening the door as the deputy orders him to drop his weapon. The suspect, whose only visible hand is his left hand, can be seen turning his head toward the deputy as he continues to ignore commands to drop his gun.
The body-worn camera video then shows Seabron’s body slightly turn toward the vehicle – his right hand out of view – and it’s at this point in the video that the deputy starts firing a total of nine rounds into Seabron.
“In accordance with state law, a peace officer is justified in using deadly physical force if the suspect poses an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to the peace officer or another person. It is clear in these pictures there were others in danger,” a sheriff’s official can be heard saying in the video released by the agency.
The video released by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, however, does not appear to show that Seabron was pointing the gun at anyone in the crowd, but was instead moving the arm which was holding the firearm up and down.
A man can then be heard on the deputy’s body-worn camera video screaming “No!” several times. Moments later, the deputy radios that shots had been fired.
Seabron was declared dead on scene.
“These situations unfold very quickly, and this individual forced my deputy to make a split-second life-or-death decision. It’s a decision that no law enforcement officer ever wants to make, but one that could not be avoided,” said Sheriff Darren Weekly in a statement Monday. “Law enforcement officers cannot hesitate in a life-threatening situation. If you have a weapon and are presenting an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury, to us or the public, we have a duty to stop the threat. My deputy acted to save lives, including his own.”
Video footage release comes after court-ordered hearing
The release of three clips from the sheriff’s office was ordered by a Douglas County judge last week during a preliminary hearing for Seabron and 23-year-old Nevaeha Rayon Crowley-Sanders.
During questioning after the shooting, Crowley-Sanders told the deputy Seabron did not have a gun, but when the deputy told her he had seen it, "she replied he was just trying to protect her,” according to an arrest affidavit in the case.
Inside the vehicle, documents show, deputies found a small semi-automatic handgun where Crowley-Sanders was sitting that appeared to be emptied.
Deputies also recovered Seabron’s handgun at the scene.
Tyrone Glover, the attorney representing Seabron’s family in the case, has categorically rejected how Seabron has been portrayed by the sheriff’s office and has accused the agency of “deliberately conflating two separate incidents to retroactively justify the shooting of an innocent man.”
“Those of us who have seen some of these footage… is not consistent with the narrative that’s been coming out of Douglas County Sheriff’s Office,” Glover said Thursday. “The people will be able to judge for themselves.”
Watch the video released by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in the player below.
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