Police Shed Light on Violent Altercation Behind Fatal Protest Shooting
A man fatally shot by a security guard after opposing weekend protests argued with another man before getting involved in an altercation with the guard, police said in a court document released Tuesday.
According to the arrest affidavit, Lee Keltner, 49, got into a verbal dispute with a 27-year-old man in which both “yelled and postured,” leading others to believe the dispute was going to turn violent on Saturday.
Thirty-year-old Matthew Dolloff and a 25-year-old person engaged in an altercation with Keltner as he was still arguing with the 27-year-old man.
Keltner slapped Dolloff on the head and Dolloff pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and shot Keltner as Keltner discharged pepper spray at him, the document said.
The names of the people mentioned in the affidavit besides Dolloff and Keltner were redacted.
A lawyer for Dolloff’s family, Doug Richards, said on Monday that Dolloff opened fire because he saw Keltner reach into his pocket and he feared for his safety.
Police have said that two guns were found at the scene.
Dolloff has been jailed for investigation of first-degree murder but he has not been charged.
KUSA said it has hired private security guards for months to accompany its journalists at protests and that Dolloff was hired through the Pinkerton security company.
Pinkerton in a statement on Monday said Dolloff was a contracted agent and not an employee and that the company “is fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities in their investigation of this matter.”
Denver officials have said Dolloff did not have a license to work as a security guard in the city and were investigating how he was allowed to work.
In a statement on Monday, the city attorney’s office said Dolloff, Pinkerton and KUSA and other entities that hired or deployed Dolloff could also face civil or criminal action.
Dolloff had a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Colorado issued by his local sheriff’s office but it was suspended Monday because of the allegations he faces, Elbert County Sheriff Tim Norton said.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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