A state trooper and an El Paso County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed an armed man, who fired through a glass window of an occupied home and entered in an attempt to evade police, will not face criminal charges.
On July 11, 23-year-old Antonio Mancinone was shot dead inside a Monument home on Doewood Drive, according to an El Paso County District Attorney’s Office news release.
Prior to the shooting, Colorado State Patrol troopers attempted to stop a red Jeep Patriot, which was later determined to be stolen, and the driver, Mancinone, fled, according to the release.
Mancinone, driving southbound on Interstate 25, drove recklessly as he fled. The suspect’s vehicle exited the highway at County Line Road and ran through a stop sign. The Jeep crashed on the overpass bridge and Mancinone, with a gun in his hand, fled the crash on foot.
Trooper Lance Curry, in full uniform and driving a marked patrol vehicle, encountered Mancinone, the release said. Mancinone pointed his gun at Curry, who ducked for cover, and Mancinone ran toward an occupied SUV stopped at a stop sign, which he failed to carjack. The suspect then ran toward a car behind the SUV when Curry, in his patrol vehicle, drove toward Mancinone, who pointed his gun at Curry. The trooper hit the suspect with his vehicle. Mancinone fell, rolled and got up. He ran into an open field with troopers, also on foot, in pursuit.
Mancinone approached a home, with troopers still in pursuit. People, including children, in the backyard ran inside for safety. Mancinone jumped a fence and tried to enter the backside of the residence. Troopers were yelling commands for the suspect to drop his gun.
Mancinone climbed stairs to a back deck and fired his gun through a window to break it and enter the home, the release said. Trooper Curry, who had entered the home through the front and had evacuated residents inside, fired seven shots at Mancinone, the release said. Deputy Spencer Stringham, who had responded to the incident and was outside in the yard behind a fence, fired one shot from his rifle.
“At the time they fired, Trooper Curry and Deputy Stringham indicated they felt there was a significant safety threat to law enforcement, any potential residents who may still be in the home,” and for neighbors, the release said.
Mancinone died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds. According to a coroner’s report, he had drugs in his blood system including methamphetamine, amphetamine and antidepressants.
Investigators found that “Mancinone had threatened multiple lives with a vehicle and a firearm, committed multiple felonies, was becoming increasingly dangerous, and repeatedly refused commands to stop and drop his gun,” the release said.
Curry, according to the release, “noted at the time he fired he was in fear for his life and for anyone who may still be inside the home.”
Stringham told investigators that when Mancinone used force, firing the gun to enter the home, he perceived the suspect as an “imminent threat.” The release said no charges will be filed against Curry or Stringham.
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