The mother of a man who was fatally shot by police after a tense standoff sued the City of Casper and several police officers Friday, saying officers wrongfully killed her son and the city failed to train officers to avoid rights violations.
Brenda Cothron filed a civil complaint in the federal U.S. District Court for Wyoming through her attorney, Christopher King of Worland.
It hinges on the June 6, 2024, death of Cothron’s son Trae Spurlock, at an apartment complex in the 5,000 block of PayIt Forward Drive in Casper.
Spurlock had had a tense encounter with police, whom he claimed to be in his home unlawfully, while police tried to investigate a report that Spurlock had shoved his girlfriend and thrown some keys at her earlier.
It ended with an escalation, in which Spurlock, sitting near a rifle, said he wasn’t afraid of “death by cop.” He made a quick movement; an officer tased him, and he fell.
Here the facts become uncertain.
The officer who had tased Spurlock switched to his handgun and shot at Spurlock seven times, striking him six times.
Police rendered aid, but Spurlock died.
The prosecutor who investigated the case, Natrona County District Attorney Daniel Itzen, wrote in his October 2024 decision letter that video of the incident doesn’t reveal whether Spurlock had been reaching for his own rifle at that time.
The shooting officer told another officer on scene that Spurlock had been reaching for the rifle.
Ultimately Itzen concluded that if he had decided to prosecute the officer who shot Spurlock that night, the evidence would not have carried his case.
The Lawsuit
Cothron’s lawsuit accuses the involved officers of violating Spurlock’s constitutional rights.
It asserts that the officers were not provoked, and that the officer who fired on Spurlock while the latter was on the ground lacked a “lawful or justifiable reason.”
The complaint alleges that the officers “knowingly” violated the law “when they caused Trae Spurlock’s unwarranted and excruciating physical and mental anguish and death.”
Its second cause of action accuses the city of failing to train its officers, and having customs or policies that led to officers allegedly violating Spurlock’s rights.
The complaint also claims the officers caused a wrongful death, that the civil defendants owe Spurlock’s mother and estate damages for causing harm, as well as costs and attorney fees.
Cothron’s lawsuit complaint notes that officers entered Spurlock’s home without a warrant.
“They could have left the apartment,” wrote King. “If they were determined to arrest Trae Spurlock they could have obtained a warrant, they could have simply waited until the following day and served Trae Spurlock with a citation. There was no-one in danger. There was no reason for the Officers to continue to escalate the situation.”
A rifle had been sitting on the balcony along with Spurlock when police met him, the complaint concedes. But it alleges that Spurlock did not control the rifle during the incident.
A Little More Background
Multiple Casper Police Department officers responded to the apartment about 9:30 p.m. that evening and spoke with two women – one of them Spurlock’s girlfriend – who said Spurlock shoved her and threw keys at her, according to official reports on the incident.
Officers knocked at the apartment door, and Spurlock didn’t answer.
The girlfriend offered them the keys.
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, Itzen’s decision letter notes.
“I don’t care,” said Spurlock, according to the letter. “Death by cop doesn’t sound too bad. What do you want?”
One officer started talking about whether Spurlock had shoved his girlfriend, and Spurlock said he had, says the letter.
The shooting officer 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 0.267%, 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 incident video note. The officers spoke with him for about 13 minutes, attempting to persuade him to comply.
Ultimately, the officer moved in to arrest Spurlock for domestic assault. Spurlock shook his head and refused to be handcuffed.
The officer already had his taser drawn then, the letter says.
To The Door
Spurlock opened the sliding glass door and made a quick movement to the balcony.
The officer 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 the officer dropped the taser and switched to his handgun.
He shot seven times, striking Spurlock six of those times, says the letter.
Police started life-saving measures, but Spurlock died.
‘Not Going To Jail’
Itzen said this evidence wasn’t enough to carry a case against the shooting officer through the justice system.
“As you are aware, the State of Wyoming must prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” wrote Itzen in his letter, which was addressed to a Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agent. “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.”
The Casper City Attorney’s Office did not comment by publication.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
