LOVELAND, Colo. (KDVR) — The civil rights attorney for a 19-year-old man shot three times by a Loveland Police officer Monday night said he is developmentally delayed and was suffering a mental health crisis.
The officer responded to a disturbance at 1620 Tennessee St. just before 7 p.m. Alexander Domina was in his backyard with a knife in hand, police said. The Domina family attorney, Mari Newman, said the officer shot Domina in the abdomen three times.
“Alex’s grandmother called 911 because he was having a mental health crisis. She was very clear to the 911 dispatcher that he had not hurt anybody, that he could be talked down,” Newman said. “And then when the officer came, she repeated that it’s a mental health crisis, he can be talked down, and yet a Loveland officer came in, guns ablazing, and shot this young man three times.”
Newman said Domina’s grandmother is raising him because he was severely abused during his childhood and has serious developmental delays as a result. She said he has an IQ of about 62.
“My goodness, that is something no family member should ever have, where we can’t call 911 without the fear that something horrifying might happen just like this,” Newman said. “Instead of serving and protecting, will actually be the ones that ultimately shoot and maybe even kill an innocent young man.”
Newman said Domina’s grandmother called 911 to protect herself and him and told police he had not harmed anyone.
“There is absolutely no legal, no moral, no human justification for shooting this innocent young man. He was very clearly in the throes of a mental health crisis,” Newman said. “His grandmother had said time and time again that he could be talked down, but instead of doing what needed to be done, Loveland Police officers did the same thing they did just a few months ago.”
The Loveland Police Department has been under scrutiny following the use-of-force in the arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia. The officers involved in that case were charged and resigned.
“Unfortunately, instead of treating this family with compassion, the Loveland Police officer who shot Alex wouldn’t provide him with any medical care, wouldn’t even let his grandmother go over and hold his hand as he was crying out, as he was probably dying,” Newman said.
As of Tuesday night, Domina was listed in serious condition at UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. Newman said his condition was dire.