A sheriff’s officer in Laramie who shot and killed a Laramie resident in 2018 has resigned from the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, effective Wednesday.
Albany County Sheriff Aaron Applehans confirmed the resignation of Officer Derek Colling in comments to Cowboy State Daily, but couldn’t provide information as to the reason because state law prohibits him from discussing personnel issues.
Applehans was unsure of whether Colling planned to seek work elsewhere as a law enforcement officer.
Colling, a corporal with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, shot and killed Robbie Ramirez during an altercation that occurred after a traffic stop in November 2018. He was cleared of wrongdoing in the incident by a grand jury.
Colling shot and killed a 15-year-old boy in 2009 while working as a police officer in Las Vegas, a shooting that led to a lengthy lawsuit. He was fired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2011 for an alleged assault of a videographer trying to film police work, according to WyoFile.
Ramirez’s mother Debra Hinkel has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office following the death of her son, calling it a wrongful death and referring to the grand jury’s decision in Robbie Ramirez’ shooting as a a miscarriage of justice.
Her lawyers have alleged that former Albany County Sheriff Dave O’Malley hired Colling when other law enforcement agencies wouldn’t. Colling is a Laramie native and his father is a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper.
