For the second time in less than two weeks, metro area prosecutors have signed off on an officer-involved shooting in which the officer thought the suspect had a gun but didn t.
In the first case, 18th Judicial District DA John Kellner s office declined to prosecute a Castle Rock police officer for the December 2020 wounding of James Woodall; the officer reportedly thought Woodall had taken a shot at him. Actually, Woodall was holding a knife and wasn t close enough to anyone to be an immediate threat; the blast came from a less-than-lethal shotgun fired by one of the officer s colleagues.
And now, the 17th Judicial District DA s office has dismissed the January killing of 41-year-old Harmony Wolfgram with a decision letter that does its best to disguise the fact that the item in her hand was not a gun, but a butane lighter.