A Pueblo man was shot and killed by police Saturday after he fled a domestic disturbance carrying his infant child, stopping about a block away to set the baby down in a stroller before reaching into a backpack and ignoring officers’ orders to stop. The infant was unharmed. The child’s mother, who, along with the baby, held an active restraining order against the man, was briefly hospitalized and released without serious injury.
According to The Denver Post, officers were flagged down over a reported domestic disturbance on the 400 block of West Ninth Street on Saturday. Police said the man threatened to shoot anyone who approached the residence and threatened the infant’s mother with a handgun before fleeing on foot with the child. He stopped in a nearby parking lot, put the infant in a stroller, and then reached into his backpack, according to police accounts relayed by the Post. When he continued reaching into the bag despite orders to stop, a Pueblo police officer opened fire. The man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police have not released his name pending notification of his family, nor have they detailed what, if anything, was found inside the backpack — the department’s Sunday release did not report finding weapons on him, per the same account. The mother has not been charged with any crime.
Why Colorado Law Keeps Pueblo Police Out of Its Own Investigation
The shooting is now under investigation by the 10th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team, a legal requirement rather than a choice. Colorado law under C.R.S. § 16-2.5-301 mandates that every police department, sheriff’s office, and district attorney in the state participate in a multi-agency team — including at least one outside law enforcement agency or the Colorado Bureau of Investigation — whenever an officer-involved shooting results in injury or death, according to Justia Law. That framework, enacted under 2015 legislation and later updated under HB 21-1250, removes the Pueblo Police Department from leading the inquiry into its own officer’s use of deadly force.
The 10th Judicial District CIRT itself operates under a formal multi-agency memorandum signed by the Pueblo Police Department, Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Pueblo County Coroner’s Office, and the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, per the City of Pueblo. That structure was built specifically to standardize critical incident investigations and keep deadly force reviews independent across the city and county.
Potential Felony Exposure Tied to the Restraining Order and Infant
Had the man survived, the alleged conduct described by police carried serious legal exposure. Under C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5, violating a civil or criminal protection order carries mandatory arrest, and Colorado law requires that any resulting jail sentence run consecutively — not concurrently — with whatever sentence follows from the underlying case, according to FindLaw. Separately, C.R.S. § 18-3-302 defines second-degree kidnapping as knowingly seizing and carrying another person without consent, or taking a child under 18 with intent to conceal them — a charge that elevates to a Class 3 felony, carrying potential sentences of eight years or more, when accomplished with a deadly weapon or a representation of being armed.
A Pattern of Armed Domestic Calls Testing Pueblo Police
Saturday’s shooting is not an isolated flashpoint for Pueblo law enforcement. On June 2, Pueblo Police officers and SWAT responded to a domestic fight involving weapons on East 5th Street, where a suspect fired at responding officers and was shot and wounded by police, triggering its own CIRT investigation, according to the City of Pueblo. In March 2025, a violent encounter near Mesa Avenue and Cedar Street left three Pueblo police officers wounded and a suspect dead, an incident Hoodline covered in detail as it placed four assisting Pueblo County Sheriff’s deputies on administrative leave during the investigation.
The CIRT process has also drawn public friction over how these cases resolve in court. In Pueblo Sheriff Rips 18-Month Probation, Hoodline reported that Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero publicly criticized an 18-month probation sentence in a CIRT-investigated case where a suspect had shot at law enforcement during a pursuit, prompting the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office to launch an internal review of its plea bargain practices. A separate CIRT case from September 2025, in which a Pueblo officer fatally shot robbery suspect Aaron Vigil near West 8th Street after he pulled a knife following a vehicle pursuit, took nearly a year to reach its conclusion: the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office led that investigation, and the District Attorney cleared the officer in July 2026, according to Pueblo County government records.
Support Available Through County Victim Advocacy Program
Pueblo County also runs a dedicated support structure for domestic violence victims and those affected by protection order violations. The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office Advocates for Victims of Crime program offers specialized advocacy, emergency assistance, and court support, working alongside regional partner organizations. It remains unclear what services, if any, have been arranged for the mother and infant in this case.
Key details remain unresolved as the investigation proceeds. Police have not said whether a firearm was recovered from the backpack; the man’s identity has not been released pending family notification, and it has not been specified which outside agency within the CIRT is leading this particular inquiry.
