Police officer's use of lethal force justified in January shooting

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

According to the district attorney's office, they concluded that the deadly 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.

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Suspect dead after officer shooting in Security-Widefield

The prosecutor's office said 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 Fraijo continued to move in a manner that, in passing, indicated he might be hiding something.

As Komrofske passed Fraijo for the third time, he noticed that he “saw the barrel of a gun protruding from his [Mr. Fraijo’s] left shoulder”.

It was at this point that Komrofske announced over the radio that he would speak to Fraijo.

During the interaction, the deputy noted that Fraijo continued to try to hide the rifle, leading Deputy Komrofske to say, “do me a favor and put it down.”

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

The prosecutor's office says Fraijo repeatedly walked toward deputies and officers and said, “Fuck, shoot me.” The officers and deputies responded, “We don't want to shoot you,” before continuing to order him to drop the gun. Fraijo ignored the officers and deputies and raised the rifle, pointing it at the officers.

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

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

Medical examiners found that Fraijo died from 15 gunshot wounds, and a toxicology report indicated that 207 ng/ml of amphetamine and 1,220 ng/ml of methamphetamine were found in his blood.

If you would like to read the office's analysis of the event, you can do so below.

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