A Wyoming police officer and deputy were cleared of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a 41-year-old man who chased after the two with a metal baseball bat while suffering an apparent mental crisis last year.
The shooting happened Sept. 9 when Thermopolis Police Officer Ryan Loving was performing a welfare check on Jared Gottula, who had been reported hitting a home with a metal baseball bat, the Cowboy State Daily reports. Gottula was suffering a possible mental breakdown, according to authorities.
In security camera footage from the scene, Gottula is seen swinging his bat and charging at Loving in his cruiser. A witness told Cowboy State Daily that Gottula had struck the cruiser multiple times with his bat, and he tried to open the officer's car door before Gottula was knocked down by the vehicle.
Footage from Loving's body camera captures his confrontation with Gottula. It also shows Hot Springs County Sheriff's Deputy Max Lee-Crain trying to help de-escalate the situation.
Loving deployed his Taser, but that was unsuccessful. After saying he could get a firearm if he wanted to, Gouttula advanced toward Lee-Crain, who opened fire and fatally wounded him.
In a Feb. 7 decision letter, Special prosecutor Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun said he had reviewed the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation's probe into the incident, and he felt both officers were justified in their actions.
“They were required to do so with not only their safety in mind but the safety of several citizen bystanders that had gathered in the immediate vicinity,” LeBrun wrote.
“He simply would not stop the violence,” he added.
