PARKER — Dramatic body camera footage released on Thursday shows the moment a Parker police officer fatally shot an apparently suicidal suspect in the head as the man — heavily armed and described by his wife as “going crazy” — went on a guns-blazing rampage through his Douglas County neighborhood.
Officer Ronnie Dorrell fired the head-shot at Randy Rodick from an AR-15 assault-style rifle while crouched behind a civilian’s SUV about 30 yards away. Rodick was killed, ending the harrowing encounter last month that left a Douglas County sheriff’s detective critically wounded.
Dorrell’s aim was so astounding that at least one person who first approached Rodick after he was fatally wounded thought the man had committed suicide.
“To be in that moment and to have the presence of mind with all that is going — to know that there is an officer down, to know that people are being shot at, to know that this guy is armed to the hilt — to be able to stop yourself, take in that sight picture, slow your breathing and pull that trigger one time and end this thing,” 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler told reporters at a Thursday morning news conference.
“That is an amazing shot,” Brauchler said. “That kept this from turning this I think into something far worse.”
The recording was released as prosecutors announced no officers will be charged for firing their weapons during the Sept. 2 gun battle with Rodick near Parker Adventist Hospital and Sierra Middle School. Authorities, including Brauchler, praised the actions of first responders, saying their quick response undoubtedly prevented further bloodshed.
“Based on the law and the facts of this incident, I conclude that each of the officers who discharged their weapons in this incident was justified in attempting to use deadly physical force and using deadly force to defend themselves and each other, and to apprehend Rodick,” Deputy District Attorney Larry Bailey wrote in his decision.
Rodick, 40, was wielding an AK-47 assault rifle with a 75-round drum and also had a pistol when he shot Detective Dan Brite and then drove his RV through a field behind his home while firing at officers and bystanders, authorities say. The camper was filled with thousands more rounds and another ammunition drum, as well as a shotgun.
Investigative reports released on Thursday show Rodick’s wife called 911 the day of the rampage to report her husband was “really, really drunk” and attempting to leave their home with several firearms. Rodick said he would try to kill anyone who tried to stop him, she told dispatchers, and was likely referring specifically to law enforcement.
“The police, they’re all corrupt,” Roddick said to his wife, she recounted to investigators.
Rodick’s family told authorities that he was an alcoholic and addicted to prescription medications. In recent years, they said, he had talked about dying, especially when he was drunk, and that he had resisted counseling because he felt it did not work.
At one point before Sept. 2, he had even tried to commit suicide by cop, the mother of his children told investigators. He reportedly said that he didn’t think suicide by cop was suicide.
Rodick was shot once in the head and another time in the shoulder, investigators found. Several of the rounds he fired from the AK-47 struck nearby Parker Adventist Hospital, one of which even traveled through an office, multiple interior walls and a computer monitor before embedding in an examination room.
“We should be incredibly proud of the officers and the deputies that responded that day,” said Division Chief Steve Johnson, of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Johnson said Brite, who was released from the hospital at the beginning of this month, was given a 1 percent chance of surviving after showing up in the emergency room with a horrific chest wound and no pulse. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation.
“I can tell you that he is a warrior, through and through,” Johnson said. “There’s two words that aren’t in his vocabulary, according to his family, and that’s in the warrior spirit. Those two words are ‘can’t’ and ‘won’t.’ ”
Parker police and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office are still investigating how Rodick came into possession of the AK-47.
