Iowa City High graduate killed in Boulder officer-involved shooting

BOULDER - A 2010 Iowa City High School graduate was shot and killed by police and Colorado after he allegedly attacked officers.

According to information provided online by the Boulder Police Department, officers were called to an apartment complex in Boulder at 10:30 p.m. Monday for a report of a man in the building who was acting erratically. The person who called 911 told dispatchers the suspect was 'high on LSD” and had attacked people inside the apartment with a knife, according to police.

The suspect was reported to be outside of the apartment and screaming, police said.

When officers arrived on the scene, they encountered the suspect - later identified as 22-year-old Sam Forgy - armed with a hammer inside the apartment building stairwell, according to witnesses and officer statements. Police said Forgy - who was naked - was ordered to drop the hammer. Instead, he allegedly climbed on to the stairwell railing as if to jump down on the officers below.

Police said one officer deployed a Taser, but was unsuccessful in stopping Forgy. A second officer fired 'multiple” rounds from his service weapon. Forgy fell to the landing and was pronounced dead at the scene. A hammer was recovered from near his body.

Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said police are not sure yet why the Taser didn't subdue Forgy or how soon shots were fired after the stun gun was deployed.

'With a Taser” she said, 'there are two probes that actually have to strike the suspect in order to have a full contact, and we're not sure that both probes actually struck the suspect.

'Another possibility that we've seen in the past is that when we have a suspect who's heavily intoxicated or on drugs, sometimes (a Taser) is not as effective. So, investigators are looking into both of those possibilities.”

University of Colorado officials confirmed Forgy was a student on the Boulder campus, where he was majoring in applied mathematics. He transferred to the university last year from Community College of Denver, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Kate Haddon, chapter adviser for Community College of Denver's Phi Theta Kappa honors program, said Forgy was a member of the society while on campus.

Haddon said she was shocked to hear the allegations of drug use. 'It's surprising,” Haddon said. 'He was very smart, sarcastically funny. He was great.”

Forgy's mother, Michelle England, confirmed her son's death to KCRG-TV9 Wednesday evening and said she was going to the coroner's office Thursday.

Police in Colorado said they found several kitchen knives inside the apartment, where residents said Forgy was subletting a room, along with blood in both the kitchen and other parts of the unit.

A 23-year-old victim was taken to the hospital for injuries in the alleged attack, which included multiple knife-related injuries - including a six-inch cut to his forehead - and a bite mark on his hand.

There have been four officer-involved shootings in Boulder since 2008. Typically, officer-involved shootings are investigated by the Boulder County Investigative Team, made up of senior law enforcement officials from multiple county agencies, according to the police department. The officer who fired the fatal shots, who authorities have not yet identified, has been with the department since 2013 and has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Information from The Boulder Daily Camera was used in this report.