Warning: Some descriptions of violence and injury may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
(PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo.) — The use of deadly force by law enforcement during an incident in March in which three Pueblo Police officers were injured has been ruled justified by the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s (DA) Office.
Documents from the DA’s Office chronicle the events of March 18, which resulted in three officers being shot and the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Billy Soto, being killed in an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement. The documents also detail the heroic actions of officers and an Army veteran who came to the aid of an injured officer.
According to the DA’s report, officers with the Pueblo Police Department (PPD) initially responded around 7:15 p.m. on March 18 to the area of West Mesa Avenue and Cedar Street in Bessemer, on information from a bond agent that Soto was in the area trying to steal a motorcycle. Officers were aware that Soto had an active warrant for attempted murder, was an admitted MS-13 gang member, and was likely to be armed.
The first officer on scene had not even exited his patrol car before Soto allegedly fired into the car, hitting the officer in the head and spraying him with glass from the shattered windshield. The documents state that body-worn and dash camera footage shows Soto allegedly fired at least 27 rounds at the responding officer’s car.
Another officer in the patrol car behind the initial responding officer ran to the aid of the injured officer, even after receiving a barrage of gunfire from Soto to his own patrol car. A bystander, identified in the DA’s report as Matthew Hartvigsen, identified himself to the second officer as an Army veteran and offered a Combat Life Saver kit to help provide life-saving care to the officer who had been shot in the head. The DA’s Office said the injured officer was awake and on the phone with his wife when emergency crews arrived.
Meanwhile, Soto had fled down Pine Street, and deputies with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office joined the response when they heard “officer down” on their radios.
Officers and deputies were searching an alley along Pine Street when shots were fired, and a PPD sergeant was hit in the arm and the leg. Other officers carried the sergeant out of harm’s way, while a bystander in a nearby backyard yelled out that Soto had run through his backyard. Officers and deputies continued to search and clear the area as they looked for Soto, eventually locating him on the roof of a garage on Pine Street.
Soto fired on officers in the alley once again, this time hitting a PPD captain in the face and neck. Soto continued to fire at law enforcement, and four PPD officers and four PCSO deputies fired on Soto, ultimately hitting and killing him.
Three different scenes were processed in the investigation, with the most notable being that of the first responding officer’s patrol car near the intersection of Cedar and West Mesa. The DA’s report states that there were “numerous entry and exit” bullet holes in the officer’s patrol car, including “the windshield, the front driver side door, the plexiglass partition between the front and back, the rear passenger doors, the front driver side seatbelt column, the back seat, the roof, the lightbar, the driver side tire rim, and the rear trunk cover. Additionally, there were three entry and exit bullet defects in the top right side of the front driver side seat headrest.”
An autopsy conducted on Soto revealed he had methamphetamine in his system. He died as a result of multiple rifle gunshot wounds from law enforcement.
In reviewing the case, the DA’s Office said given the facts–that multiple officers had already been injured and that bystanders in the neighborhood were likely in imminent danger–any reasonable officer on the scene would have taken the same actions to stop Soto from harming anyone else.
“The use of force by the officers is justified based on the fear and threat of serious bodily injury or death posed as a result of Soto’s actions on March 18, 2025,” the DA’s Office said. “Soto unleashed a barrage of gunfire from a high-powered rifle at [officers] immediately upon seeing their patrol vehicles… over approximately the next hour Soto attempted to flee from law enforcement while continuing to shoot… During this time Soto shot and seriously injured three PPD officers… [and] fired nearly forty rifle rounds in a populated residential neighborhood.”
As of April 12, all three officers had been released from the hospital and were recovering from their injuries.