Douglas County gunman used four weapons against deputies, SWAT team in New Year’s Eve shootingSheriff Tony Spurlock released hours of body camera footage from night deputy Zackari Parrish diedwww.denverpost.com/2018/01/09/douglas-county-gunman-guns/
January 13, 2018
Body camera footage from the fatal New Year’s Eve shooting death of a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy shows chilling footage of officers storming an apartment building under heavy gunfire in an attempt to rescue Deputy Zackari Parrish.
The gunman used an M16 rifle, an M4 rifle, a shotgun and a Glock pistol during the shootout, Lauren Lekander, a department spokeswoman, said Tuesday. The gunman, Matthew Riehl, legally owned 15 weapons purchased between 2011 and 2016, and 11 of them were in working order at the time of the shooting, she said.
M16 and M4 guns are military-grade rifles. Civilian versions of the weapons are sold in the United States, but Lekander did not know whether Riehl, a former Wyoming National Guard soldier, had the military type or civilian versions of the weapons. In media interviews, Spurlock used the military nomenclature to describe the weapons.
On Tuesday, Sheriff Tony Spurlock released pictures of the guns, a more detailed timeline of how the fatal encounter unfolded and hours of body camera footage from deputies involved in the shooting. The body camera footage is graphic as various officers inside the apartment recorded the moment Riehl begins shooting with Parrish standing directly in front of his bedroom door.
The timeline shows the gunman had video cameras positioned outside his apartment, and SWAT team members shot the cameras to disable them before the rescue attempt.
Parrish had been called to the apartment at 3 a.m. and at 5:17 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 31 for reports of a domestic disturbance but determined he was responding to a mental health crisis. On the second call, Parrish had decided to take Riehl into custody on a mental health hold after Riehl exhibited signs that he was a danger to himself and others.
Parrish and deputies Taylor Davis, Michael dDoc and Jeff Pelle went inside Parrish’s apartment after a roommate gave them a key. Riehl, who had shut himself inside a bedroom, asked the deputies to identify themselves and began firing through the closed door almost immediately.
Parrish was gunned down while Davis jumped through a second-story window. dDoc and Pelle helped each other out the front door and down the apartment stairs.
The body camera footage shows the deputies trying to talk to Riehl and calm him down during the first call. They leave without taking him into custody or writing any citations.
On the second call, Parrish spoke in a calm voice and gently knocked on the apartment’s front door, asking Riehl to let him inside, according to Davis’ body camera footage. Riehl can be heard yelling from inside.
When they decide to go in, Parrish tells Davis to back off in case Riehl had a gun. They go back down the stairs and discuss a strategy for taking Riehl into custody.
When they finally go inside, they use a key to unlock it but eventually kick in the door, which appears to have a chain or some kind of barricade in front of it. The apartment is filled with junk that deputies waded through, and an ironing board was blocking Riehl’s bedroom door.
Parrish called out that he was from the sheriff’s office as he stood in front of the bedroom door trying to kick it open. Riehl opened fire and Parrish collapsed. His fellow deputies tried to crawl back to him, but the gunman continued to shoot, forcing them to leave. Both had been shot.
In other footage, deputies rushed to the scene in their cars while it was still dark. By the time the SWAT team rushed toward gunfire, it was daylight.
Castle Rock Police Department officer Tom O’Donnell, a member of the SWAT unit, was wounded during the rescue. Riehl was killed.
