CSPD: Alleged road rager answers door with gun raised
Mar 28, 2025
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) has released body-worn camera footage of an officer-involved shooting on the south side of Colorado Springs on March 11, in which an alleged road-rager answered the door with a gun raised at officers.
According to CSPD, officers
responded shortly after 3:30 p.m. on March 11 to a report of a road rage incident involving a gun. After speaking with the victim of the road rage incident, officers developed suspect information that led them to an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Delta Drive, near the intersection of South Academy Boulevard and Chelton Road.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: No one injured after officer-involved shooting
When they arrived at the apartment complex, officers found the vehicle reported to have been involved in the road rage incident, as well as "other evidence" believed to be involved in the incident.
Around 9:30 p.m., officers knocked on the suspect's door and announced themselves as police. About 20 seconds later, the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Avery Denton, can be seen on body worn camera footage opening the door with a handgun lifted at chest height before turning the gun toward the officers. The officer who knocked on the door immediately opened fire.
Denton was not hit by the gunfire, and no one was injured in the shooting. Shortly after the shots were fired, officers were able to get in contact with Denton on the phone, and he then came out of the apartment and was taken into custody without further incident. Investigators recovered a handgun from the scene.
Courtesy: Colorado Springs Police Department
Denton was arrested for felony menacing and booked into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center. The officer involved in the shooting has been identified as Tanner Rickman, who has been with CSPD for nearly two years.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation into the shooting, and will send its findings to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office for determination on whether the officer's use of force complied with Colorado law. ...read more read less