A man who was detained after raising an AK-style BB rifle at a Colorado Springs police officer, who injured two others with gunfire in response, is not facing charges or being identified, according to a significant event briefing by the department on Wednesday.

Officer Austin Hornburger was attempting to make contact with a 911 caller when two armed males and a female stepped into the outdoor walkway between them in the 500 block of South Nevada Avenue on Nov. 13.

During the reporting call, the caller stated that a man had threatened to return with a gun after assaulting someone earlier in the day and had come back banging on his door, according to the briefing.

Four seconds after the people entered the walkway, Hornburger reacted to the man raising his BB rifle by firing four rounds, striking two people next to him before retreating down a flight of stairs.

The man who pointed the BB rifle at the officer ran to the railing of the second-floor walkway around a minute later, without a weapon, and shouted to Hornburger that two people had been shot and they needed help, the briefing showed. He was taken into custody without incident and the two wounded people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers recovered a Crosman AK1 full-auto air cartridge BB gun and two other “edged weapons” that were “consistent with the
object that the male who was shot was seen carrying,” the briefing explained.

The person with the rifle was questioned and later released without charges.

Pursuant to Colorado law, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office’s use of force investigation will be reviewed by the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office to determine whether the officer’s use of force was lawful.

Hornburger is assigned to CSPD’s Downtown Area Response Team and has been with the department for nine years, according to the briefing.