Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty hosted a town hall Tuesday to explain his decision not to file criminal charges against the Frederick police sergeant who shot and killed Ashlyn Renee Brownell, 31, following a standoff outside a Longmont home earlier this year.
Dougherty determined that the shooting was legally justified under Colorado’s use-of-force statutes. He detailed the evidence that led him to conclude that Frederick Police Sgt. Tyler Farson, a member of the SWAT team, was justified in shooting Brownell because she posed an “immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to the peace officer or another person,” the standard set by Colorado law.
The incident began around 4 p.m. on March 19, when Longmont police received a 911 call from Brownell’s mother, who said her daughter was on the front porch holding a gun to her own neck and expressing suicidal thoughts, according to law enforcement officials. During the hours-long standoff, Brownell fired the gun inside the home and showed it to officers, officials said.
Dougherty described evidence that Brownell pointed the gun at officers, including statements from officers at the scene and forensic evidence such as damage to the red-dot optic mounted on her handgun. He said the damage indicated that she had raised the gun in the direction of officers before Farson shot her.
The shooting was not clearly captured on body cameras, partly because of the officers’ positions and the location of an armored vehicle, officials said. Dougherty said all SWAT members present had their body-worn cameras on. The Boulder County Critical Incident Team, a multiagency unit that investigates use-of-force incidents in the 20th Judicial District, investigated the shooting.