Josh Barta
jbarta@uwyo.edu
Albany County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed 48-year-old Colorado resident John Allan Britton at Snowy Range Ski Resort on Sunday after an altercation.
According to a press release Albany County Sheriff’s Department came to the ski area looking for Britton after getting reports about a potentially suicidal male.
Deputies found Britton sitting in his truck parked in the ski area’s parking lot wielding a large hunting knife. The suspect failed to cooperate with deputies upon contact.
The ski area was put on lockdown and contacted the Centennial EMS response team.
Sheriff David O’Malley said the suspect eventually got out of the truck and proceeded to approach the deputies with the hunting knife in hand, coming within 15 meters of the deputies
Britton was shot multiple times by deputies after he failed to listen to requests to drop his weapon.
“The deputies used the force they deemed necessary based on the gravity of the situation,” O’Malley said.
Britton died at the scene despite life-saving efforts being administered.
An autopsy was performed on Britton on Monday. The results have yet to be released.
Four Albany County Sheriff’s Deputies Matt Donnell, Edward Rosier, Aaron Gallegos and Adam Dean were placed on administrative leave pending the result of the investigation. Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation, or DCI, has taken over the investigation of the case by O’Malley’s request.
“Hopefully the investigation goes quickly,” O’Malley said, noting the absence of four deputies puts pressure on the department.
DCI will deliver a final report of the matter to the Albany County attorney upon conclusion of the investigation
Snowy Range Ski Area opened its slopes back up to the public shortly after the incident. The ski area will remain unaffected by the investigation.
