DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Police Department has identified Matthew Dolloff as the man who shot and killed an attendee at a rally at Civic Center Park on Saturday.
Dolloff is being held for investigation of first-degree murder, but has not been charged at this time.
9NEWS said 30-year-old Dolloff was a private security guard contracted by them through Pinkerton, but when FOX31 reached out to Denver’s Department of Excise and Licensing we were told there is no one by that name who is or ever has been registered as an active security guard in the city.
Photos show Dolloff and the shooting victim facing off. One picture shows what appears to be a fog of pepper spray or mace being sprayed by the victim and Dolloff with his gun drawn. The following pictures show the victim falling to the ground after being shot.
Attorney Chris Decker talked to FOX31’s Michael Konopasek and said that in Colorado a person can protect themselves or someone else from what they reasonably believe to be the use or imminent use of unlawful force.
“There are no clear and absolute bright lines with the doctrine of self-defense,” he said. “No one can really tell until or unless that were charged and a jury would determine the reasonableness of the circumstances.”
In Colorado, deadly force can be used only if a person reasonably believes that a lesser degree of force is inadequate and that person reasonably believes that they or another person is in imminent danger of being killed or about to sustain great bodily injury.
“That pepper spray may cause great bodily injury, could blind you,” Decker said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Excise and Licensing told FOX31’s Nicole Fierro that if Dolloff was operating without a license he could face fines and possible jail time.
Denver is one of only three cities in Colorado that requires security guards to be licensed.
FOX31’s Rob Low checked with the City Attorney’s Office regarding the possible additional fines and charges if Dolloff was not licensed. This is their statement:
“The City Attorney’s Office (CAO) will weigh any additional criminal charges related to the defendant possibly operating as an unlicensed security guard once the Denver Police Department completes its homicide investigation. The CAO is also working with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses to weigh disciplinary action against the security guard company for hiring and deploying an unlicensed guard, one without a license much less an armed endorsement.”
Dolloff had been issued a conceal carry permit by the Elbert County Sheriff in June of 2018. That permit is good for five years, but has been suspended pending the outcome of this criminal investigation.
In a statement posted online, Pinkerton said Dolloff was not an employee of the company but a contractor from a “long standing industry vendor.”
Problem Solvers have learned that Dolloff is being held in isolation away from other inmates for his own protection and without bond for investigative hold on a count of first-degree murder.