DENVER: Video from a Denver television station shows that a pro-police demonstrator who was fatally shot by a security guard hired by the station was apparently angry that he was being filmed by a producer for the station as he argued with another man just seconds before the shooting.
The cell phone video taken by the producer for KUSA-TV on Saturday shows the demonstrator, 49-year-old Lee Keltner, in a heated confrontation with a man wearing a T-shirt that read Black Guns Matter. Several bystanders are seen nearby, with one trying to defuse the argument, which occurred after dueling left- and right-wing rallies downtown.
The video shows Keltner pulling out a can of pepper spray or Mace before he walks out of view. A man’s voice it’s unclear if it’s Keltner is heard saying that the area was no place for cameras before someone confronts the producer and the video stops.
Get the cameras out of here or I’m going to f- you up,” the unidentified man says. Keltner and the KUSA-TV guard, identified by police as Matthew Dolloff, are shown briefly scuffling before the video stops.
The producer resumes filming as police respond to the shooting. He tells police officers that he is with the press and says of the shooting victim, That guy was going to get me. He also says the security guard shot Keltner because Keltner used mace.
KUSA-TV posted the video on its website but did not identify the producer.
Photos from The Denver Post show that Dolloff, standing in front of the producer, apparently tried to push Keltner back when Keltner slapped him in the head. The photos then show Keltner firing pepper spray at Dolloff as Dolloff is about to fire a handgun at Keltner.
Dolloff has been jailed for investigation of first-degree murder. Prosecutors have until the end of Monday to file charges against him.
KUSA-TV has 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. On Tuesday, the station said it had asked that guards not be armed, and that none of its crew on Saturday knew Dolloff was armed.
A lawyer who said he represented Dolloff’s family, Doug Richards, has said that Dolloff opened fire because he saw Keltner reach into his pocket and that he feared for his safety. The Post photos do not appear to show that.
Police said right after the shooting that two guns were found at the scene. But the court document they released with more details explaining why Dolloff was arrested did not address a second gun.
Pinkerton has said Dolloff was a contracted agent, not an employee, and that it was cooperating with the investigation.
Denver officials have said Dolloff did not have a license to work as a security guard in the city. Companies that employ unlicensed guards can have their company licenses suspended or revoked or subject to fines. The city attorney’s office said Dolloff, Pinkerton and KUSA-TV could also face civil or criminal action.
Another Denver television station, KMGH-TV, reported that it has hired security through Pinkerton in the past and that Dolloff provided security during a U.S. Senate debate it hosted Friday. It said it had requested that guards be unarmed, and no guns were visible at the event.
Dolloff had a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Colorado issued by his local sheriffs office, but it was suspended Monday because of the allegations he faces, Elbert County Sheriff Tim Norton said.
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