The Windsor police officers who exchanged gunfire with a man they say shot at them from on top of a firetruck at a hotel early last month were legally justified in their use of force, 8th Judicial District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said in his decision letter Friday afternoon.
McLaughlin’s decision comes after his review of the Critical Incident Response Team investigation into the Windsor shooting, which was led by the Loveland Police Department. As part of his review, McLaughlin said he watched the officers’ body camera footage and reviewed their interviews with CIRT investigators.
Because no one was hit by gunfire or injured in the shooting, a CIRT investigation wasn’t legally required, but McLaughlin said a CIRT investigation was initiated “due to the agreement of all parties involved and in the interests of transparency and investigative thoroughness.”
Two Windsor police officers — Sgt. Stephen Cantin and then-Officer Siobhan McTighe, who has since become a sergeant — exchanged gunfire with a man at the AmericInn Lodge and Suites, 7645 Westgate Drive, on Jan. 7. Officers responded at the request of Windsor Severance Fire Rescue personnel, who initially responded to the hotel shortly after 4 p.m. to a fire alarm activation.