By Cleo Westin
The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Colorado Springs police officers shot a woman about 15 seconds after she entered a CSPD vehicle and allegedly reached for a firearm on Delaware Drive, limited body camera footage released Friday by the department shows.
Officers began pursuing Micaela Pasillas, 30, on Jan. 31 after a report of a disturbance involving a weapon and it is unclear what prompted her to get into the vehicle.
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Pasillas allegedly swung a knife six times a few feet from a victim in his vehicle, hitting the door, according to the arrest affidavit obtained by The Gazette. The victim told police that he would have been stabbed if the car door “had not been there.”
The body camera footage begins with Pasillas in between the police vehicle and a person referred to as “Officer One” in the significant event briefing, who warned Pasillas as she approached the vehicle that she would be tased.
When she entered the officer said, “Oh hell no,” before pointing the taser in her face and commanding her to exit.
“Officer One” then opened the driver’s side door where Pasillas was sitting and attempted to pull her out by her feet.
Two seconds after “Officer One” said, “Guys, we need to grab her,” Officer James Mckinstry yelled that Pasillas was “getting a gun” and fired at her three times, hitting her “at least” twice.
After the shots were fired, Pasillas can momentarily be seen lying on the road as a third officer asks if she is OK before the footage ends.
Pasillas survived the shooting with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and has since been released from the hospital, according to the briefing.
Police later recovered a knife Pasillas dropped during the foot pursuit.
Under Colorado law, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation of the shooting because a police officer fired their weapon and struck Pasillas.
Colorado Springs police submitted an arrest affidavit for Pasillas on the charge of menacing on Feb. 4, but it does not mention the shooting or Pasillas entering the police vehicle.
Charges of second-degree assault on a police officer, motor vehicle theft, resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer were filed from the Sheriff’s Office investigation against Pasillas on Feb. 12, according to court records.
The use of force investigation by the Sheriff’s Office will be sent to the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office to determine whether the shooting was justified.
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