Police shoot Colorado Springs woman fleeing armed man, community wants answers
Colorado Springs, CO – On February 3, the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) gathered at the corner of Delaware and Marion Drives to protest a police-involved shooting they said involved a domestic violence victim fleeing an abuser. Several members assembled at the scene to call for oversight and an independent investigation.
On January 31, the Colorado Springs Police Department received a report of a man, allegedly armed with a rifle, chasing a woman near Marion Drive. The woman, identified later as 30-year-old Micaela Pasillas, was allegedly armed with a knife, presumably to protect herself against her pursuer. Family members said on social media that Pasillas had been fleeing an abusive partner, adding that she experienced recurring mental health episodes and that police were aware of her condition due to prior interactions.
Instead of pursuing the armed man, officers contacted Pasillas, who fled from them and crawled into a police cruiser, seeking shelter and safety. Officers then shot her, later claiming she was reaching for a shotgun inside the vehicle. Pasillas suffered at least one gunshot wound, and was transported to a hospital; she is expected to survive.
Generally, police shotguns are required to be locked and bolted inside patrol vehicles to prevent public access. If the weapon was not properly secured, it would point to a dangerous lapse in protocol on the part of the officers, and, if it was locked and bolted, then Pasillas reaching for it would not have been a danger. In this case, ignoring these details almost led to lethal consequences. According to available accounts, Pasillas had dropped or thrown the knife before entering the cruiser, raising further questions about the level of threat she posed at the time. At the February 3 action, COSAARPR member Brandon Rincon spoke of this, saying, “She dropped her knife and made a rash decision to seek shelter. What did CSPD do instead of offering shelter? They shot her.”
After the shooting, police statements have omitted any discussion of the man reportedly armed with a rifle. Instead Pasillas’s identity was publicly disclosed and her behavior while fleeing was closely scrutinized. This imbalance has raised questions among community members and advocates, who argue that all inquiry has focused on the victim rather than the circumstances that led her to flee. The alleged abuser, meanwhile, does not appear to have been contacted by police, much less arrested or charged, further intensifying calls for accountability and transparency.
Several activists speaking at the emergency rally delivered remarks criticizing reckless conduct by police. The crowd chanted “Violent cops, off our streets!” A member of COSAARPR said, “We need to be able to investigate these cops in a transparent way, in a way that’s open to the people, in a way that isn’t cops investigating themselves. The system is set up against working people. The system is set up against Chicanos and brown folks.”
Another COSAARPR member, Bug Peterson, told attendees, “People in crisis, whether that’s a mental health crisis, a domestic violence situation, or something else, don’t deserve to be shot by police for the fight-or-flight reactions they are having.”
Peterson continued, “People deserve compassionate support, de-escalation, and actual safety, not trigger-happy police officers pointing a gun at you, ready to shoot you if you don’t immediately comply.”
The incident has renewed debate in Colorado Springs over police responses to domestic violence and mental health crises, with some calling for expanded de-escalation training and alternative emergency response options, as well as real oversight over the police by the community.