The Casper Police Department Officer who shot a Wyoming man to death after a tense standoff involving a rifle will not be criminally charged, the region’s top prosecutor determined this week.
Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen released his decision letter to Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday, regarding the June 6 officer-involved shooting in which Trae Stewart Spurlock, 26, was killed.
Casper Police Department officers responded to an address on Pay It Forward Drive at 9:30 p.m. June 6, due to a report of a disturbance, says the letter.
Officers William Maples, Jocelyn Padilla and Brenden LaPointe responded. Once on scene they spoke with two women, one of whom was Spurlock’s girlfriend and the tenant at the apartment.
The girlfriend said she and her friends had spent the day at Alcova Reservoir, while Spurlock was at work. When she came home, Spurlock was clearly upset, she told police. She packed a bag to spend the night at her female friend’s house, and Spurlock yelled “get out,” the decision letter relates.
Spurlock started shoving her, the woman told police. She lost her balance and nearly fell.
The two women left the apartment, and the girlfriend called police from inside her vehicle.
Spurlock came down the stairs and threw some keys at his girlfriend, says the letter.
Officers Arrive
After hearing those reports, officers went to the apartment to investigate the call as a domestic attack. The female friend suggested officers accompany the girlfriend back to her apartment to retrieve her things.
Officers wanted to speak to Spurlock about that first, says the letter.
They knocked at the apartment door for about three minutes and announced who they were while calling for “Trae.”
Spurlock didn’t answer. Dogs barked inside. One officer noted he could hear someone moving around inside the apartment, says the letter.
Maples told the girlfriend she couldn’t get her things because Spurlock wouldn’t answer.
She countered that she had keys to the apartment, so they all went back and entered together – to find the lights off inside, says the letter.
Trae didn’t answer as the officers called out his name. A sheetrock wall was damaged and bloodied, the letter says, adding that it’s unclear if those details had anything to do with the events of that night.
Officers pointed their flashlights at the living room and balcony, and spotted Spurlock, shirtless and sitting in a camp chair, on the balcony, with an AR-style rifle at his feet.
Someone flicked on a light.
Spurlock opened the sliding glass door and said “get out of my house.”
Officers said they were there to ensure the girlfriend was safe as she gathered her things.
Spurlock said they were trespassing and he could shoot them. There was a back-and-forth as to whether he could do that, the letter notes.
“I don’t care,” said Spurlock, according to the letter. “Death by cop doesn’t sound too bad. What do you want?”
Maples started talking about whether Spurlock had shoved his girlfriend, and Spurlock said he had, the letter notes.
Maples also tried to get Spurlock to come in from the balcony, away from the gun, but Spurlock refused, and noted he was feet away from the rifle, the letter says.
Itzen wrote that the girlfriend had told officers prior she knew of him having three guns: two rifles and a pistol usually kept in the truck.
Spurlock reached behind a wall, picked up a mason jar and drank out of it. Authorities later found his blood-alcohol level to be .267%, says the letter.
Officers kept trying to coax Spurlock away from the rifle.
He stepped into the apartment by a couple feet, and shut the door about halfway, leaving enough room for a person to get out.
“I’m not going to jail tonight. That’s why that f***ing rifle is there. I’m not going to f***ing jail tonight,” he said. “Either death by cop or not, I’ve been in plenty of firefights in my life. I’m not afraid of another one.”
He added, “Take that as you will.”
Spurlock told the officers he was highly proficient with a rifle, and if he wanted, the officers would already be dead, the letter and video note. The officers spoke with him for about 13 minutes, attempting to persuade him to comply.
Life-Saving Measures
Ultimately, Maples moved in to arrest Spurlock for domestic assault. Spurlock shook his head and refused to be handcuffed.
Maples already had his taser drawn then, the letter says.
Spurlock opened the sliding glass door and made a quick movement to the balcony.
Maples discharged his taser for a little more than three seconds.
Itzen wasn’t sure, in his letter, if Spurlock fell down then because of the taser or because he tripped.
At some point Maples dropped the taser and switched to his handgun.
He shot seven times, striking Spurlock six of those times, says the letter.
“Officer Maples explained to Officer (Brenden) LaPointe that he – Spurlock – was reaching for the rifle,” the letter says, adding that that part of the interaction can’t be seen on the video.
Police started life-saving measures, but Spurlock died.
Justified
If Itzen had decided to prosecute the officer who shot Spurlock that night, the evidence would not have carried his case, Itzen wrote in his decision letter, which is dated Oct. 7 and addressed to Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) Agent Zack Miller.
“As you are aware, the State of Wyoming must prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” wrote Itzen. “By Spurlock’s own words, he admitted the rifle was out because he – Spurlock – was not going to jail. What that ultimately means is unknown, be it suicide or a shoot-out with law enforcement.”
Police were at the apartment due to Spurlock’s own “criminal activity” and were there at the invitation of the leaseholder and for a civil standby, says the letter.
Officers tried to deescalate the situation.
“Once it was clear to Spurlock he was going to jail, he made a quick movement to the area where the rifle was located,” wrote Itzen. “The State would fail in meeting its burden of proof in this case.”
For those reasons, “the State declines (to charge) this case,” wrote Itzen. “Should new facts or circumstances come to light, this decision can be revisited.”
Maples could not be reached for comment Wednesday via a late-day voicemail to the Casper Police Department’s spokeswoman. His phone number does not appear to be listed online.
Spurlock’s mother, Brenda Cothron, declined Wednesday to comment, saying she couldn’t at this time.
A Little History
Spurlock spent much of his youth in Ten Sleep, court documents show.
In a Gofundme page for Spurlock’s three children, Cothron described him as a loving father, son and friend.
He entered the military at 18. He was a U.S. Army veteran, forced to medically retire in June 2022, Cothron wrote.
“He had just got the clearance to deliver supplies to the military bases (by truck) and was excited about it,” wrote Cothron. “He had found a new way to serve his country.”
Spurlock was married Sept. 12, 2016, in Green River. He and his wife had two children before they divorced July 3, 2019.
He later married another woman, June 2, 2022, and had a child with her. They were divorced with a joint custody agreement on Oct. 3, 2023.
As for the older two children, Cothron is applying to Washakie County District Court for permanent legal guardianship.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
