Two local police officers will not face criminal charges in an officer-involved shooting that left a man dead last summer.

17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason wrote a letter to corresponding police chiefs Wednesday regarding the justified use of force from Brighton Police Department Ofc. Tyler Sandusky and Commerce City Police Department Sgt. Tyler Ahlem in a fatal shooting that occurred on June 21, 2024. 

Around 1 p.m. that day, someone reported an assault in a church parking lot at 6690 E. 72nd Ave. in Commerce City, according to the letter. A man was reportedly banging a woman’s head into the concrete. 

Upon arrival, Commerce City officers interviewed the victim, who told them the man was 26-year-old James Houllis. Houllis had outstanding warrants in Denver and Adams County, according to police.

Witnesses claimed Houllis had fled to a nearby apartment near East 72nd Avenue and Niagara Street.

Houllis allegedly forced a maintenance man from the complex to enter his apartment. The suspect then brandished a machete and threatened to kill the man. Houllis also pointed a handgun at him, according to records.

The suspect barricaded the apartment door, beginning a standoff that lasted roughly five hours. 

The maintenance man was able to escape on his own about 30 minutes after the standoff began, police said, but Houllis continued to refuse orders to surrender.

Commerce City officers negotiated with Houllis for hours, but he said he did not want to go back to prison and continued to point a gun at them, even threatening to have a bomb in the apartment.

Around 7 p.m., the Commerce City SWAT team and multiple other agencies developed a plan to engage Houllis inside. 

While Houllis was outside of the backdoor of his apartment, officers fired a 40mm less lethal round at him. A K-9 was also released, pulling the man to the ground.

After being taken to the ground, the suspect allegedly pointed a gun at the officers, who fired at him six times, killing him.

The weapons were later found to be two airsoft guns.

The shooting was investigated by the district attorney office’s Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), eventually leading to Wednesday’s decision that the officers were justified in their use of force.

“There is no evidence to suggest that an objectively reasonable officer would have acted differently that Officer Sandusky and Sergeant Ahlem in this incident,” Mason said in the letter.