Boulder police: Taser barb missed former Iowa City High student

BOULDER, COLO. - A Taser discharged to subdue a former Iowa City High student who was acting erratically missed, authorities there said last week.

The Boulder Police Department said on July 30 that officer Darren Fladung deployed his Taser at 23-year-old Sam Forgy when officers responded to an apartment complex the evening of July 27 for a report of a subject with a knife assaulting occupants. One of the Taser's probes hit Forgy's left side, but the other missed and hit the wall behind him, rendering the stun gun ineffective.

When Forgy - a 2010 City High graduate, according to his mother - made another move, officer Dillon Garretson fired 'multiple” shots from his sidearm, according to a police department news release. Forgy was hit and fell from the balcony hand railing he was on. He was pronounced dead on the scene, and a hammer he was alleged to have been wielding at the time was found beneath his body.

The additional details from police provides information on why the Taser was unable to stop Forgy, who was naked and reportedly high on LSD at the time of the incident.

Boulder police were called to the apartment complex around 10:30 p.m. on July 27. The person who called 911 told dispatchers Forgy had attacked several people with a knife. He was reported to be outside of the apartment and screaming.

When the officers arrived, Forgy was inside the apartment building stairwell and holding a hammer. According to new information released by police that corroborated witness statements on July 30, Forgy briefly crouched down, as if to comply with officers' orders to drop the tool.

'Seconds later, however, he picked the hammer up again, muttered unintelligibly and quickly moved to his right, climbing onto the balcony hand railing,” police said in the news release.

At this point, Fladung deployed his Taser, followed by Garretson discharging his service weapon. Police said Forgy's movements came in 'very quick succession.”

Police said evidence suggests a violent encounter happened in the apartment unit where Forgy first began acting erratically, and the apartment occupants tried to subdue him. At least two people suffered bites, one person was 'slashed in the face with a knife,” and a chair was broken, police said. Blood was found throughout the apartment.

The Boulder County Coroner's Office is conducting a toxicology screening to determine if Forgy had consumed any substances before the fatal shooting, and possibly to confirm witness accounts of Forgy being high on LSD at the time. The police department said they will not likely release any more information on the fatal shooting until the Boulder County Investigative Team forwards its report to the district attorney and police chief.

Both Boulder officers - who joined the department in July 2013 - remain on paid administrative leave.