Two Larimer County Sheriff’s Office deputies were legally justified in shooting and injuring a woman after a high-speed chase through Loveland last month, 8th Judicial District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said in a decision letter issued Friday afternoon.
McLaughlin’s decision comes at the conclusion of the 8th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team investigation into the shooting. The criminal case against the woman is ongoing, and McLaughlin said that “the details in (his) report will be curtailed” to “protect the integrity of the ongoing case.”
McLaughlin determined deputies Steve Smyth and Austin Kinney were legally justified in shooting Emily Minugh, 54, after they say she led deputies on a nearly 10-mile high-speed chase through Loveland, crashed her vehicle and emerged holding a gun.
According to McLaughlin’s letter, Smyth initially attempted to stop Minugh just after 1:30 a.m. Aug. 20 as she was traveling westbound on Colorado Highway 402 near Interstate 25 in Loveland but Minugh did not stop and instead continued westbound on Colorado 402 at speeds exceeding 120 mph.