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4th Judicial District DA says use of force was justified January shooting involving multiple officers

Posted at 4:36 PM, Jun 28, 2024

EL PASO COUNTY — The 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office has released its official review of a deputy-involved shooting in January.

According to the DA's office, they found the lethal use of force by El Paso County Sheriff's Deputies, Cameron Komrofske, Jonathan Aggen, and Tiffany Lee, as well as Fountain Police Officers Brandon Anderson and Destin Alvarez, was justified on the night of January 27.

WATCH: Original coverage of the shooting

Suspect dead after officer involved shooting in Security-Widefield

The DA's Office says Deputy Komrofske first contacted a man, identified as Christopher Fraijo, because he was, "walking suspiciously" along Crawford Avenue and Security Boulevard in Fountain around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Deputy Komrofske said that the Fraijo continued to move in a way as he passed by that indicated he could be hiding something.

As Komrofske passed Fraijo for the third time, he noted that he "saw a barrel of a gun peek over his [Mr. Fraijo’s] left shoulder".

It was at this point that Komrofske radioed he would be speaking to Fraijo.

During the interaction, the deputy noted Fraijo continued to try and hide the rifle, which lead to Deputy Komrofske saying, "do me a favor and put that down."

The DA's office says Fraijo did not listen to the deputy and Komrofske raised his gun for a minute and commanded Fraijo to lower his weapon for about a minute. Fraijo did not drop his weapon and told the deputy he was, "not going back to jail". After Fraijo refused Deputy Komrofske's commands, other deputies and Fountain police officers arrived to provide backup.

The DA's office says Fraijo walked towards the deputies and officers multiple times and said, “Just fucking shoot me.” Officers and deputies responded, “We don’t want to shoot you,” before continuing commands for him to put down the weapon. Fraijo ignored, officers and deputies and raised the rifle aiming it at officers.

EPSO Deputies Komrofske, Jonathan Aggen, Tiffany Lee, and Fountain Officers Brandon Anderson and Destin Alvarez opened fire at this point.

Fraijo was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 1:38 a.m.

Medical examiners found that Fraijo died as the result of 15 gunshot wounds and a toxicology report indicated 207 ng/ml Amphetamine and 1220 ng/ml Methamphetamine was found in his blood.

Should you want to read the office's analysis of the event, you can do so below.

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