More than a year after a late-night Wheat Ridge police encounter, newly released body-camera footage shows former officer Carlos Bowdre pressing a handgun against an unarmed man’s head and threatening to shoot him. The department has called the conduct “deeply concerning,” and Bowdre was fired months after the incident.
The footage is dated around 1 a.m. on May 6, 2025. Bowdre can be heard ordering the man to lower his hands and threatening to “put a bullet in your head,” according to KDVR.
Release Followed A Fight Over Police Records
The video did not become public quickly. Westword reported that Wheat Ridge fought for roughly three months to keep the footage from being released, arguing that it was connected to a criminal case that had since been dismissed.
The records were ultimately obtained after Blue Surveillance, a Denver nonprofit focused on police misconduct records, requested Bowdre’s personnel, disciplinary and body-camera files. The group said an attorney with the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press helped challenge the city’s position.
Administrative Review Led To Bowdre’s Firing
Bowdre was suspended while the department investigated, then fired with cause on August 27, 2025. An administrative review found that he violated multiple critical policies and professional standards, and Police Chief Chris Murtha said the case showed the department’s accountability systems “functioned as intended,” according to KDVR.
Blue Surveillance also reported that Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training database lists Bowdre as having voluntarily relinquished his certification on March 26, 2026. That status is now part of the public record alongside his Wheat Ridge termination.
What The Public Record Shows Now
Wheat Ridge’s Professional Standards Unit says it handles internal misconduct investigations, policy research and reviews intended to identify training needs. The department’s description of that work is available through its Professional Standards Unit page.
The immediate news is not a new arrest or a new use-of-force incident, but the public release of a visual record that had remained out of view while the department’s internal process played out. For Wheat Ridge residents, the footage makes the disciplinary findings more concrete—and puts the department’s promise of accountability under a much brighter light.
