Dramatic footage has surfaced out of Colorado after a Parker Police Officer fatally shot a suicidal man with his issued AR-15 last month after the suspect went on a “rampage,” injuring an officer in Douglas County.
Officer Ronnie Dorrell took cover from his door and struck suspect Randy Rodick with a single shot to the head from a distance of 30 yards and a crouched firing position.
Dorrell’s lucky shot was such a surprise to bystanders, that at least one person though Rodick had shot himself in the head.
18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler told reporters on Thursday that the shot likely saved lives.
“To be in that moment and to have the presence of mind with all that is going -to know that there is an officer down, to know that people are being shot at, to know that this guy is armed to the hilt- to be able to stop yourself, take in that sight picture, slow your breathing and pull that trigger one time and end this thing,” 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler told reporters at a Thursday morning news conference.
“That is an amazing shot,” Brauchler continued. “That kept this from turning this I think into something far worse.”
The recording was released when prosecutors announced that no charges would be filed against the officer who were engaged in the September 2nd gun battle near a hospital and middle school.
“Based on the law and the facts of this incident, I conclude that each of the officers who discharged their weapons in this incident was justified in attempting to use deadly physical force and using deadly force to defend themselves and each other, and to apprehend Rodick,” Deputy District Attorney Larry Bailey wrote in his decision.
40-year-old Rodick was reportedly wielding an AK-pattern semiautomatic with a drum, as well as being in possession of a handgun and shotgun when he engaged police, wounding Detective Dan Brite. After firing, he drove his RV through a field while firing at officers and bystanders.
Rodick’s wife reported that he was intoxicated prior to the exchange and told police that her late husband said police are “all corrupt.”
Prior to the the shootout, he had attempted suicide by cop on an earlier occasion.
During the shootout, one of the 7.62×39 rounds from Rodick’s weapon struck nearby Parker Adventist Hospital, traveling through an office, multiple interior walls and a computer monitor before embedding in an examination room.
“We should be incredibly proud of the officers and the deputies that responded that day,” DCSO Division Chief Steve Johnson told the Denver Post.
“I can tell you that he is a warrior, through and through,” Johnson said. “There’s two words that aren’t in his vocabulary, according to his family, and that’s in the warrior spirit. Those two words are ‘can’t’ and ‘won’t.’ ”
