Update on Dec. 19, 2023: This story was updated with new information on the identity of the woman killed.
City of Boulder police officers shot a woman near the North Boulder Rec Center on Sunday afternoon. The woman was pronounced dead on the scene. She was later identified by the Boulder County Coroner’s Office as 51-year-old Jeanette Alatorre.
The incident occurred after officers responded to a call reporting that a woman had pointed a gun at a man as he was driving out of the North Boulder Recreation Center, according to city officials.
No officers or other individuals were physically injured. The two officers who fired their guns are on paid administrative leave and the incident is under investigation, officials said.
During a news conference on Monday afternoon, Deputy Chief Ron Gosage said that officers located the woman near the recreation center at about 4:14 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 17. Gosage said the woman did not comply with officers’ commands and proceeded to walk northbound on Broadway before turning down a residential street. He said officers saw her remove what appeared to be a gun from a purse.
A video shared with Boulder Reporting Lab of what appears to be the incident shows five officers, one of whom was holding a body shield, following a woman through a residential area into an alleyway.
Gosage said officers followed the woman and attempted to deescalate the situation for approximately 15 minutes using “less lethal strategies and verbal commands.” Those attempts “proved unsuccessful,” he said, and officers shot her at about 4:26 p.m. She died on the scene about 40 minutes later.
Gosage said she had a “replica of a Beretta pistol.” Though replica guns can appear very real, they are typically incapable of firing bullets.
“The incident is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the friends and family of the women who died,” Gosage said.
The fatal shooting is being investigated by the Boulder County Investigation Team, a group of law enforcement officials from other jurisdictions that investigates use-of-force incidents. The investigation will likely include interviews with officers, a review of the crime scene and body camera footage.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty will then take those findings and decide whether to file criminal charges.
Dougherty said he was on the scene around 1 a.m. on Monday. He said the firearm will be analyzed by forensics experts. But he said replica guns do not function like real guns.
“The fact that it is a replica firearm, to me, just makes this all the more tragic,” he said.
Officials did not provide any information on the mental health of the woman. Dougherty said her mental health will be considered as part of the investigation.
In May 2023, city officers fatally shot a 36-year-old man after responding to a domestic violence call. The call was made by a woman seeking help after receiving threats from the man. An autopsy report indicated he had methamphetamine in his blood. Substance use is a common thread in police shootings in Colorado. The district attorney declined to file charges in that case.
The shooting on Sunday is the sixth fatal shooting by City of Boulder police officers since 2013, according to media reports and state records. None of the officers involved have been criminally charged, according to records from the District Attorney’s Office.
Correction: This story was updated on Dec. 20 to correct a misspelling of Deputy Chief Ron Gosage’s name.
Where is the video referred to on the article?
I searched all over and still can’t find it either
All guns, fake or otherwise should be illegal. Why didn’t they shoot an extremity? What was motive?
Officers are trained that if it required deadly force it’s exactly what it means. No officer in this nation is trained to shoot an extremity.
It’s tragic that she was killed, but I can see why the officer (s) couldn’t see from a distance if it was real or a replica. Condolences to everyone involved.
That’s why NO guns should be legal, whether they are operational or replicas, Doreen. These cops must be sharp shooters to kill from distance. There’s no use entertaining this incident until motives are determined. What was dead person’s reasoning she gave to extend her use of the cabana for? What does her companion say, since she’s around to explain.
My laptop case with $360 in it was stolen less than 30 sec. from removing my computer from it, 4 ft. from me in the municipal lobby by a children’s department library employee who was caught on surveillance camera and was not prosecuted. I thought it must have been a homeless person for 2 mos. before I was finally informed it was a city employee. No mediation, no restorative justice, he is not required to connect with me and refuses.
I guarantee no one will ever be informed of what really happened in this NBRC incident. They wouldn’t even know the right questions to ask anyway. The culture has lost genuine curiosity.