Timeline of Events
The story begins on October 11th, at around 7pm. It was at this time that Rocky Ford Police Officer James (Adam) Ashby began his shift for the night. It was mostly an uneventful evening. Around 10pm, the Rocky Ford dispatch received a 911 call for a possible burglary in progress. Officer Ashby and Officer Tim Moore responded to the call. After arriving on scene, they quickly determined the home was secured and everyone was safe. For clarity, it should be noted that there were only three Police Officers on duty at the time as the Rocky Ford Police Department is very small.
After the suspected burglary call, Officer Ashby met up with a civilian ride-along. The ride-along was Kyle Moore, and he was the brother of Police Officer Tim Moore. Kyle Moore was an aspiring Police Officer and routinely rode along with Rocky Ford Police Officers to prepare for a career in law enforcement.
Continuing with the evening, Officer Ashby and Kyle Moore conducted routine patrols of the city. At around 1:55am, they were driving down the highway and observed a person riding a skateboard in the middle of the right-hand lane. There was no traffic at the time, but nonetheless, this presented a safety hazard at nearly 2am and was suspicious considering the possible burglary call earlier in the evening. In addition to the burglary call, the area they were in had several burglaries reported in the recent past.
As Officer Ashby got closer to the individual, he noticed he was wearing dark clothing, a dark hat, and had a black backpack on. Officer Ashby pulled his vehicle alongside the individual and began speaking to him through the passenger side window of his police car. Even though the individual was committing a traffic infraction under CRS 42-4-109.9, Ashby said he simply wanted to tell the individual "not to skate in the middle of the road in dark clothes, at 2 in the morning". According to Colorado law, even though Ashby wasn't intending to write a ticket, he still had a duty to check identification and run a background check.
Although unknown to Ashby at the time, we now know that the individual Ashby observed was Jack Jacquez. Details learned via the post-incident autopsy revealed that Jack was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana (at the time illegal in the state of Colorado). As Officer Ashby's vehicle approached Jack, he was talking to Jack saying, "Hey bro, come talk to me". Jack was unresponsive and had a very defiant attitude. Ashby believed he heard Jack say, "Fuck you". He observed Jack had a very "pissed off" and "dismissive" attitude. Ashby repeatedly tried to talk to Jack to figure out what was wrong, but Jack was uncooperative.
After driving along-side Jack for about 10 yards, Ashby pulled his patrol car over at an angle towards Jack attempting to get him to stop. Ashby turned on his police emergency lights and opened his door to continue speaking to Jack over the top of his police car. At this time, Jack stepped off his skateboard and walked off the highway. Ashby exited his police car and went around the back of it to approach Jack as he walked away in an "erratic" manner. It was at this time that Officer Ashby sensed that "something was off". As Ashby approached, Jack disappeared between two hedges up a sidewalk. Ashby turned the corner to follow him and noticed that the lighting was very dim in this area and described it as "creepy". Jack's left shoulder was towards Ashby while Jack's body was concealing the backpack as he was reaching into it with his right hand. At this time, not only is Ashby concerned about what could be in the bag, but he is also wondering why this individual randomly stopped at this house and was going towards it.
As Jack was reaching into his backpack, he continued moving up the pathway to the back door of a house. Ashby continued following him while giving him verbal commands to "show me your hands, show me your hands". Ashby observed Jack had a very unfriendly look on his face and was nervous. Ashby, frightened by the situation he is in, grabbed Jacks left wrist to try to gain control of him. Suddenly, Jack turned towards Ashby with his hand still in his backpack. With his back to the door, Jack began kicking it while continuing to reach into his bag. After ignoring Ashby's repeated commands to "show me your hands", Ashby drew his service pistol and told Jack "Show me your fucking hand". Jack, seemingly understanding the gravity of the situation, finally complied. He removed his hand and showed it was empty. This was the first and only time Jack complied with Ashby's verbal commands during the entire incident. Ashby holstered his weapon.
After the situation seemed to deescalate for a few seconds, suddenly someone opened the door and asked, "Why are you here?". Ashby, after having responded to a possible burglary call earlier in the evening, was extremely concerned for his safety and the inhabitants of the home. As the door opens, Jack immediately began trying to enter the home. At this time Ashby was holding onto Jacks left wrist with his left hand. Jack was also holding the front of his skateboard under his right arm with Ashby holding the back of it with his right hand. A tug-of-war over the skateboard ensued. After a few seconds, Jack let go of the skateboard. As the skateboard released, it came back and hit Ashby in the leg, knocking him off balance. Due to Ashby having a hold of Jacks wrist, he was pulled into the home. Ashby never let go of Jacks wrist because he now knew someone else was in the home and Jack was acting extremely erratic. Officer Ashby was exercising his "right to protect" the possible inhabitants of the home.
As Jack and Ashby entered the home, Ashby lost control of Jacks wrist. With no lights on in the house, Jack disappeared into darkness. Ashby felt he was losing control of the situation and unholstered his pepper spray. He caught a glimpse of the side of Jacks face and he discharged his pepper spray. After spraying Jack on the side of his face, Ashby took a step back and holstered his pepper spray. Jack then began making very random, erratic movements.
What happened next is the crux of the situation. Ashby saw a bat being raised in the darkness. He described it as a "wooden, Wilson bat". This immediately grabbed Ashby's attention. He notices that the bat seemed to be moving upwards in a very erratic motion and he kept hearing sounds as if it was hitting objects on the way up. Ashby then observed the bat fully in a "wound up" position as if it was about to swing. Ashby feared for his life and began screaming "Drop the bat, drop the bat!". While shouting, Ashby was moving backwards and unholstered his weapon. As his hand was coming up from retrieving his gun, Ashby shot twice. His gun was close to his body and canted at an angle because he was trying to get away from the threat and didn't want to fully extend his arm and possibly get hit.
Both bullets were fired in rapid succession and followed almost an identical trajectory. One bullet hit Jack in his back at an angle, and the other missed Jack completely. This shows that Jack's body was twisting as he was shot. Otherwise, both bullets would have hit him. The second bullet missing, could also be due to Jack twitching or falling after being hit by the first bullet.
Ashby heard the bat fall and saw Jack's body slump over. Ashby, still considering Jack as a threat, tells the women in the house that "he could be dangerous, stay away!". It was at this time that Ashby radioed to dispatch "Shots fired; I need a cover car". Ashby turned to exit the house and shouted to Kyle Moore (who is still out in the police car) to "grab my med-bag, grab my med-bag". Ashby ran out to his car and began searching for his gloves and his med-bag. While searching, he noticed a fellow Police Officer approach. The first Officer to respond was Officer Garrett. He was "down the street" and arrived in seconds after hearing the call to dispatch. Ashby informed Garrett that he just shot somebody that had a bat inside the home. Garrett began approaching the home with his weapon drawn. Ashby followed with his med-bag.
Upon entering the home, the Officers observed that a light was turned on. Ashby immediately began tending to Jack. As Ashby was administering CPR to Jack, he informed Garrett to look for the bat. Officer Garrett observed Jack on the floor and "a younger lady" in the room and, without seeing a bat, holstered his weapon. The lady was Jack's girlfriend, Mariah. Garrett asked Mariah if anyone else was in the house and she said "yes". He asked her where the other person was and Mariah said, "in the bedroom". The other lady was Viola Jacquez, and she was in her bedroom (where the bat was later found hidden under blankets). Ashby continued providing CPR to Jack while Garrett exited the house and began calling his superiors.
The bag Jack had been carrying had been opened and items were strewn about. The bat was also missing. Viola, Jack's mother, stated she "went around her dying son to pick up the backpack and threw it".
Witnesses described seeing Ashby on the floor performing CPR on Jack saying, "Come on bro, breathe, breathe". Ashby was the only person to perform CPR until paramedics arrived. Even when paramedics arrived, they wouldn't enter the home and Ashby was yelling out to them to "do your job!".
After the paramedics finally took over CPR, Ashby started looking around for the bat and asked Viola "where is the bat?". He sees her eyes glancing towards the bedroom. Ashby thought he heard Viola say, "I hid the bat", and he tells officer Moore to handcuff the females and remove them from the house. After the females were escorted from the house, Ashby entered the bedroom and discovered the bat on the bed covered up with blankets, with only the top portion of it sticking out. He then came to grips with the situation and realized that he shouldn't be in the house because it is now an active crime scene.
He left the house and checked on Kyle Moore. Kyle asked Ashby "what should I say", and Ashby told him to "just tell the truth". Ashby then gave his weapon to his sergeant and waited for further instruction. This highlights an important theme throughout the incident. Ashby consistently acted in an ethical manner, yet fellow officers and individuals involved acted in a very unethical manner. Ashby was placed inside another police car while the situation continued to unfold.
While waiting for the critical incident team to arrive, Ashby observed that the two females from the house were sitting next to each other talking. At some point they were taken back inside the active crime scene, and shortly after were given a ride by the Chief of Police to another location. Ashby continuously wondered why routine protocol wasn't followed. It seemed odd that Ashby, Kyle Moore, Tim Moore, and Randy Garrett were all separated, but the two females were never separated, were led back into an active crime scene, and were removed from the scene by the Chief of Police.
At this time, more officers and investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began to arrive on scene. The Chief of Police and Deputy Chief of Police, Chief Gallegos and Capt. Bethel, respectively, arrived and gave the females blankets while they waited outside. Eventually, the Chief Gallegos and Capt. Bethel decided to transport the females to a family members home. They were taken to Viola's daughters house where they spent the rest of the evening/morning.
After several hours had passed since the shooting, CBI began conducting witness interviews. Viola and Mariah were brought in, after having not been sequestered, to give their testimony. Ashby, Kyle Moore, and other officers gave interviews as well. The full audio/video interviews can be found on the "Source Materials" page of this website.
There is no denying the tragedy this incident was. A young man lost his life, while another lost his freedom. The events of that night occurred in less than a minute. From the time Ashby left his police car, to the time he radioed "shots fired", 30-45 seconds had elapsed.
Ashby didn't begin his shift that fateful night thinking he was going to kill somebody. He attempted to deescalate the situation numerous times as it unfolded. He was trying to reason with Jack. Jack was being completely defiant of his commands. While Jack was reaching into the bag, Ashby immediately recalled his training to treat it as a threat. Once Ashby saw the bat, he feared for his life, tried to retreat, and simultaneously fired his weapon. After realizing that he shot someone, Ashby immediately began performing lifesaving procedures. He was the only officer to perform CPR until paramedics arrived.
After the suspected burglary call, Officer Ashby met up with a civilian ride-along. The ride-along was Kyle Moore, and he was the brother of Police Officer Tim Moore. Kyle Moore was an aspiring Police Officer and routinely rode along with Rocky Ford Police Officers to prepare for a career in law enforcement.
Continuing with the evening, Officer Ashby and Kyle Moore conducted routine patrols of the city. At around 1:55am, they were driving down the highway and observed a person riding a skateboard in the middle of the right-hand lane. There was no traffic at the time, but nonetheless, this presented a safety hazard at nearly 2am and was suspicious considering the possible burglary call earlier in the evening. In addition to the burglary call, the area they were in had several burglaries reported in the recent past.
As Officer Ashby got closer to the individual, he noticed he was wearing dark clothing, a dark hat, and had a black backpack on. Officer Ashby pulled his vehicle alongside the individual and began speaking to him through the passenger side window of his police car. Even though the individual was committing a traffic infraction under CRS 42-4-109.9, Ashby said he simply wanted to tell the individual "not to skate in the middle of the road in dark clothes, at 2 in the morning". According to Colorado law, even though Ashby wasn't intending to write a ticket, he still had a duty to check identification and run a background check.
Although unknown to Ashby at the time, we now know that the individual Ashby observed was Jack Jacquez. Details learned via the post-incident autopsy revealed that Jack was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana (at the time illegal in the state of Colorado). As Officer Ashby's vehicle approached Jack, he was talking to Jack saying, "Hey bro, come talk to me". Jack was unresponsive and had a very defiant attitude. Ashby believed he heard Jack say, "Fuck you". He observed Jack had a very "pissed off" and "dismissive" attitude. Ashby repeatedly tried to talk to Jack to figure out what was wrong, but Jack was uncooperative.
After driving along-side Jack for about 10 yards, Ashby pulled his patrol car over at an angle towards Jack attempting to get him to stop. Ashby turned on his police emergency lights and opened his door to continue speaking to Jack over the top of his police car. At this time, Jack stepped off his skateboard and walked off the highway. Ashby exited his police car and went around the back of it to approach Jack as he walked away in an "erratic" manner. It was at this time that Officer Ashby sensed that "something was off". As Ashby approached, Jack disappeared between two hedges up a sidewalk. Ashby turned the corner to follow him and noticed that the lighting was very dim in this area and described it as "creepy". Jack's left shoulder was towards Ashby while Jack's body was concealing the backpack as he was reaching into it with his right hand. At this time, not only is Ashby concerned about what could be in the bag, but he is also wondering why this individual randomly stopped at this house and was going towards it.
As Jack was reaching into his backpack, he continued moving up the pathway to the back door of a house. Ashby continued following him while giving him verbal commands to "show me your hands, show me your hands". Ashby observed Jack had a very unfriendly look on his face and was nervous. Ashby, frightened by the situation he is in, grabbed Jacks left wrist to try to gain control of him. Suddenly, Jack turned towards Ashby with his hand still in his backpack. With his back to the door, Jack began kicking it while continuing to reach into his bag. After ignoring Ashby's repeated commands to "show me your hands", Ashby drew his service pistol and told Jack "Show me your fucking hand". Jack, seemingly understanding the gravity of the situation, finally complied. He removed his hand and showed it was empty. This was the first and only time Jack complied with Ashby's verbal commands during the entire incident. Ashby holstered his weapon.
After the situation seemed to deescalate for a few seconds, suddenly someone opened the door and asked, "Why are you here?". Ashby, after having responded to a possible burglary call earlier in the evening, was extremely concerned for his safety and the inhabitants of the home. As the door opens, Jack immediately began trying to enter the home. At this time Ashby was holding onto Jacks left wrist with his left hand. Jack was also holding the front of his skateboard under his right arm with Ashby holding the back of it with his right hand. A tug-of-war over the skateboard ensued. After a few seconds, Jack let go of the skateboard. As the skateboard released, it came back and hit Ashby in the leg, knocking him off balance. Due to Ashby having a hold of Jacks wrist, he was pulled into the home. Ashby never let go of Jacks wrist because he now knew someone else was in the home and Jack was acting extremely erratic. Officer Ashby was exercising his "right to protect" the possible inhabitants of the home.
As Jack and Ashby entered the home, Ashby lost control of Jacks wrist. With no lights on in the house, Jack disappeared into darkness. Ashby felt he was losing control of the situation and unholstered his pepper spray. He caught a glimpse of the side of Jacks face and he discharged his pepper spray. After spraying Jack on the side of his face, Ashby took a step back and holstered his pepper spray. Jack then began making very random, erratic movements.
What happened next is the crux of the situation. Ashby saw a bat being raised in the darkness. He described it as a "wooden, Wilson bat". This immediately grabbed Ashby's attention. He notices that the bat seemed to be moving upwards in a very erratic motion and he kept hearing sounds as if it was hitting objects on the way up. Ashby then observed the bat fully in a "wound up" position as if it was about to swing. Ashby feared for his life and began screaming "Drop the bat, drop the bat!". While shouting, Ashby was moving backwards and unholstered his weapon. As his hand was coming up from retrieving his gun, Ashby shot twice. His gun was close to his body and canted at an angle because he was trying to get away from the threat and didn't want to fully extend his arm and possibly get hit.
Both bullets were fired in rapid succession and followed almost an identical trajectory. One bullet hit Jack in his back at an angle, and the other missed Jack completely. This shows that Jack's body was twisting as he was shot. Otherwise, both bullets would have hit him. The second bullet missing, could also be due to Jack twitching or falling after being hit by the first bullet.
Ashby heard the bat fall and saw Jack's body slump over. Ashby, still considering Jack as a threat, tells the women in the house that "he could be dangerous, stay away!". It was at this time that Ashby radioed to dispatch "Shots fired; I need a cover car". Ashby turned to exit the house and shouted to Kyle Moore (who is still out in the police car) to "grab my med-bag, grab my med-bag". Ashby ran out to his car and began searching for his gloves and his med-bag. While searching, he noticed a fellow Police Officer approach. The first Officer to respond was Officer Garrett. He was "down the street" and arrived in seconds after hearing the call to dispatch. Ashby informed Garrett that he just shot somebody that had a bat inside the home. Garrett began approaching the home with his weapon drawn. Ashby followed with his med-bag.
Upon entering the home, the Officers observed that a light was turned on. Ashby immediately began tending to Jack. As Ashby was administering CPR to Jack, he informed Garrett to look for the bat. Officer Garrett observed Jack on the floor and "a younger lady" in the room and, without seeing a bat, holstered his weapon. The lady was Jack's girlfriend, Mariah. Garrett asked Mariah if anyone else was in the house and she said "yes". He asked her where the other person was and Mariah said, "in the bedroom". The other lady was Viola Jacquez, and she was in her bedroom (where the bat was later found hidden under blankets). Ashby continued providing CPR to Jack while Garrett exited the house and began calling his superiors.
The bag Jack had been carrying had been opened and items were strewn about. The bat was also missing. Viola, Jack's mother, stated she "went around her dying son to pick up the backpack and threw it".
Witnesses described seeing Ashby on the floor performing CPR on Jack saying, "Come on bro, breathe, breathe". Ashby was the only person to perform CPR until paramedics arrived. Even when paramedics arrived, they wouldn't enter the home and Ashby was yelling out to them to "do your job!".
After the paramedics finally took over CPR, Ashby started looking around for the bat and asked Viola "where is the bat?". He sees her eyes glancing towards the bedroom. Ashby thought he heard Viola say, "I hid the bat", and he tells officer Moore to handcuff the females and remove them from the house. After the females were escorted from the house, Ashby entered the bedroom and discovered the bat on the bed covered up with blankets, with only the top portion of it sticking out. He then came to grips with the situation and realized that he shouldn't be in the house because it is now an active crime scene.
He left the house and checked on Kyle Moore. Kyle asked Ashby "what should I say", and Ashby told him to "just tell the truth". Ashby then gave his weapon to his sergeant and waited for further instruction. This highlights an important theme throughout the incident. Ashby consistently acted in an ethical manner, yet fellow officers and individuals involved acted in a very unethical manner. Ashby was placed inside another police car while the situation continued to unfold.
While waiting for the critical incident team to arrive, Ashby observed that the two females from the house were sitting next to each other talking. At some point they were taken back inside the active crime scene, and shortly after were given a ride by the Chief of Police to another location. Ashby continuously wondered why routine protocol wasn't followed. It seemed odd that Ashby, Kyle Moore, Tim Moore, and Randy Garrett were all separated, but the two females were never separated, were led back into an active crime scene, and were removed from the scene by the Chief of Police.
At this time, more officers and investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began to arrive on scene. The Chief of Police and Deputy Chief of Police, Chief Gallegos and Capt. Bethel, respectively, arrived and gave the females blankets while they waited outside. Eventually, the Chief Gallegos and Capt. Bethel decided to transport the females to a family members home. They were taken to Viola's daughters house where they spent the rest of the evening/morning.
After several hours had passed since the shooting, CBI began conducting witness interviews. Viola and Mariah were brought in, after having not been sequestered, to give their testimony. Ashby, Kyle Moore, and other officers gave interviews as well. The full audio/video interviews can be found on the "Source Materials" page of this website.
There is no denying the tragedy this incident was. A young man lost his life, while another lost his freedom. The events of that night occurred in less than a minute. From the time Ashby left his police car, to the time he radioed "shots fired", 30-45 seconds had elapsed.
Ashby didn't begin his shift that fateful night thinking he was going to kill somebody. He attempted to deescalate the situation numerous times as it unfolded. He was trying to reason with Jack. Jack was being completely defiant of his commands. While Jack was reaching into the bag, Ashby immediately recalled his training to treat it as a threat. Once Ashby saw the bat, he feared for his life, tried to retreat, and simultaneously fired his weapon. After realizing that he shot someone, Ashby immediately began performing lifesaving procedures. He was the only officer to perform CPR until paramedics arrived.