COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The investigation into the deadly police shooting of a Colorado Springs teenager in August will be handed over to a grand jury to decide whether the officers involved in the shooting will face charges, officials announced on Friday.
The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office – which was investigating the shooting, along with a team of other law enforcement officials – decided to refer the case to a grand jury, the office tweeted on Friday.
De'Von Bailey, 19, was shot by officers on Aug. 3, after police had responded to a report of a robbery in a Colorado Springs neighborhood. Two officers arrived and found Bailey and another man and told the two that they matched the description of the robbery suspects.
As one officer approached Bailey to search for a weapon, Bailey took off running. The officers then fired at least eight shots at Bailey as he ran away, striking him three times in the lower back and once in the arm.
He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Watch the full video of the shooting released by Colorado Springs police:
MORE | Surveillance video shows conclusion of Colorado Springs police shooting that left De'Von Bailey dead
The two officers who fired shots at Bailey were Sgt. Alan Vant'Land and officer Blake Evenson. The officers were placed on administrative leave after the shooting, but both returned to duty after the El Paso County Sheriff's Office completed its investigation and submitted its findings to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office.
The Bailey family has called for an independent review of the shooting, asking the sheriff's office and the district attorney's office to recuse themselves from the investigation. The sheriff's office typically investigates shootings involving Colorado Springs police, and vice versa.
Mari Newman, the attorney for the Bailey family, called the grand jury referral "too little too late" and the investigation, as a whole, "a tainted investigation by a conflicted sheriff's office and biased prosecutor."
The Bailey family on Thursday met with Gov. Jared Polis, who has also called for an independent investigation into the shooting. Polis on Thursday "offered his personal condolences" to Bailey's parents, the governor's office said.
"No matter the circumstances, nothing is harder than losing a son or daughter," the governor's office said in the statement. "The most important thing right now is to help the Bailey family deal with the grief and allow the community to move forward.”
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.