COLORADO SPRINGS — An El Paso County jury has found Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi guilty of several crimes related to the 2018 shooting of Colorado Springs Police Officer Cem Duzel.
On Monday, Al Khammasi was convicted of "one count of criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree, the associated crime of violence counts for this charge, three counts of assault in the first degree, one count of menacing, and one count of prohibited use of a weapon," according to the 4th Judicial District of El Paso and Teller counties.
Sentencing for the charges will take place in August. Al Khammasi has a weapons charge still pending until a hearing in July.
Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi spent some time in the hospital before being moved to the El Paso County Jail. In the beginning stages of the case, a court ordered him to undergo pre-trial mental evaluations at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo
According to Homeland Security, he came to the U.S. from Iraq legally, but has a “lengthy criminal record.” He was in federal custody awaiting deportation in 2016, but an immigration judge put a halt on his deportation, citing changes in the law.
Shooting of Cem Duzel
In the early hours of August 2, 2018, Officer Duzel and Corporal Carter were responding separately to calls for shots fired in the area of Boulder St and Bonfoy. According to police radio traffic obtained by News5, there were at least three calls from witnesses in the area who called 911 to report hearing gunshots or seeing a man tuck a pistol in his waistband.
Investigators said Duzel made contact with Al Khammasi, who was walking west along Boulder Street, when they shot at each other. Duzel was shot in the head.
Corporal Carter arrived on the scene shortly afterward and fired his weapon in order to disarm the suspect. Immediately after the shooting, Carter provided medical care for both until medics arrived.
In the weeks after the shooting, the community rallied to support Cem Duzel as he underwent extensive treatment at UCHealth Memorial Hospital before being transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Denver. The most recent update from the Colorado Springs Police Department indicated he had moved out of state to live near his family.
Officer Cem Duzel served for 5 years with the Colorado Springs Police Department within the Sand Creek Division.
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