Casper PD Provides Timeline, Video From Fatal Shooting [VIDEO]
Casper Police Chief Keith McPheeters on Thursday provided members of the news media with video and further details of the events that led two police officers to fatally shoot a sword-wielding man in February.
"The Casper Police Department calls upon every segment of our community... to continue to provide support and meaningful resources to continue to assist those dealing with mental illness," McPheeters said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
McPheeters said that on Feb. 25 at roughly 11:30 p.m., police received a 911 call from a woman who described a man walking in the middle of 15th Street. The caller said the man had what she believed to be a crowbar, and added that he swung the object at her vehicle as she drove by.
The caller described the man -- now believed to have been 36-year-old Douglas One Year -- as wearing an orange shirt, dark pants and having long hair.
Casper Police Officers Schlager and Meyers began to search for the man near 15th and Missouri, just east of the Wyoming Behavioral Institute.
About six minutes later, police received a second 911 call from an employee at the Loaf N Jug located at 1510 Centennial Court, just off 15th Street. The employee said a man with a sword had entered the store and threatened to kill her.
She described the man as wearing a red hoodie and blue jeans, saying he entered the store with a sword and broke several machines while threatening to kill the employee. She said the man was "speaking crazy" and asking "what cigarettes she had poisoned," and he ultimately left through the front door.
The man -- believed to have been One Year -- was in the store for about three minutes. Below is surveillance video from the Loaf N Jug store, edited together by Casper police.
Police provided photos of the sword to news media. Those photos show a katana-style weapon, which McPheeters said had a steel blade with a sharpened edge.
At 11:36 p.m., the officers were still in the area where the man with the "crowbar" had first been reported. They then began to respond to the 911 call from the Loaf N Jug, regarding the man with the sword.
At 11:39 p.m., the officers found a man with a sword walking down the middle of 15th Street in front of the Quail Run Apartments. As shown on dashcam video, about 12 seconds pass before both officers have fired their weapons and One Year is seen lying in the street.
Officer Schlager got out of his vehicle and went to speak to the man, later identified as One Year. Meanwhile, Officer Meyers was pulling his patrol vehicle up behind where Schlager had parked.
Three seconds after getting out of his car, dashcam video from Meyers's vehicle shows Schlager retreat from One Year, who police say advanced on Schlager.
One second later, Schlager draws his gun and orders One Year to drop his weapon. On the dashcam video, Schlager can be heard yelling, "Drop the sword! Drop the sword now!"
Within the next three seconds Meyers exits his patrol vehicle and declares via radio that they have a male "at gunpoint."
In the next second, One Year continues to advance on Schlager, who continues to retreat. Police say that One Year, "without any emotion," told Schlager, "I know you don't have a f------ gun."
The video shows officers continue to tell One Year to drop the sword. However, police say, he continues to advance "steadfastly" toward the officers.
Roughly 11 seconds after Schlager first got out of his patrol vehicle, both officers fire their weapons to stop One Year from advancing with the sword.
McPheeters says five shell casings were recovered from the scene. Two fatal rounds hit One Year directly in the spine, McPheeters said, causing "instantaneous" death.
Officers can be seen on video making efforts to administer medical attention to One Year following the shooting, before EMTs arrived.
"Given the rapid, determined advance by [One Year], the possibility to deploy less lethal measures was not a feasible option for Officer Schlager or Officer Meyers," a police statement reads.
McPheeters praised the actions of the Loaf N Jug employee, calling her a "true hero" for her calm demeanor and quick thinking, which contributed to her being able to defuse the situation inside the convenience store.
Although he could not comment as to whether One Year had been diagnosed with any mental illness, McPheeters did tell reporters that people who interacted with one year raised concerns in that regard.
McPheeters also said controlled substances -- both illicit drugs and prescription medications -- were in One Year's system at the time he was fatally shot.
Of the officers' actions that night, McPheeters said, "They acted with every ounce of professionalism that we expect them to."