An Aurora police officer was found justified Friday in the 2024 fatal shooting of a man holding an airsoft rifle.

Brian Mason, district attorney for the 17th Judicial District, found Aurora Police Department Officer Kevin Rodier justified in his decision to fatally shoot Kory Dillard, who was carrying a black rifle, on Oct. 3, 2024, according to a letter published exactly a calendar year after the incident took place.

While investigators later discovered that the rifle was a non-lethal airsoft gun, Mason determined that Rodier’s actions fell within the legal justification for the use of deadly force based on several factors, including the initial reports that Dillard was holding an assault rifle, the gun’s similar appearance to a lethal model and the man’s non compliance with orders to put the firearm down once police arrived, the letter says.

Dillard’s girlfriend, interviewed by investigators after the incident, said that he had been suffering from a mental illness and drinking alcohol for several days leading up to the shooting, according to the letter. On occasion, she noted, he would drink heavily before going into the parking lot with the rifle and hide behind cars because he thought he was being hunted.

She also told officials that Dillard was going through a rough time and wanted to kill himself because he had “nothing to lose,” the letter says. She said that he may have been trying to coerce police into shooting him.

Authorities first responded to a 911 call of a fight between two men in the parking lot of a residential complex in the 11000 block of East 16th Avenue in Aurora at around 2 p.m. that day, according to the letter. After the initial skirmish, one of the men — wearing a black hoodie, and later identified as Dillard — walked across the street to another apartment complex, where he entered a unit through a patio door and walked back into the parking lot holding what appeared to be a rifle.

After Dillard pointed the rifle at his opponent — shirtless and only identified in the letter as “E.M.” — the man slowly backed away with his hands in the air, the letter says. Multiple witnesses then described Dillard as pointing the rifle at people in the area of the parking lot. Some referred to it as an “automatic gun” and an “AK-47.”

E.M. then called 911 at 2:11 p.m., reporting that Dillard was waving around an “AR-15” and was trying to take his keys and rob him of his car, according to the letter.

Rodier and fellow APD officer Ryan Shamblin were the first officers on the scene, arriving at 2:11 p.m. in an unmarked black pickup truck but wearing official uniforms, according to the letter. They got out of the car and pointed their firearms in his direction, yelling at Dillard to drop the rifle.

“Aurora PD! Drop the rifle!” Rodier yelled, the letter says. “Let me see your hands!” Shamblin added.

Dillard, in response, pointed the firearm toward Rodier, according to the letter. It was at that point when the officer fired his rifle twice at the suspect, who fell to the ground.

During the investigation, Rodier noted that he was familiar with the area and, when the call came in, was concerned about a man having a rile in a location with many children and families, the letter says. When they arrived, Rodier said that he saw Dillard as an immediate threat given the weapon he appeared to be, and was described to be, holding.

Both officers said that they did not try to use any non-lethal weapons because of the perceived immediate threat and did not want to risk harm coming to them or anyone else in the area, according to the letter.

A woman standing near Dillard at the time of the shooting was also interviewed by investigators, the letter says. During her interview, she recalled how Dillard threatened to kill her if she didn’t open the door to the apartment building.

Investigators also interviewed E.M., who said that he had been driving his silver Kia sedan on 16th Avenue when it broke down, according to the letter. Dillard approached him and offered to help, but then took the vehicle’s keys and refused to give them back, leading to the ensuing fight.

Police later identified the rifle Dillard was holding as a 6mm caliber airsoft gun that shoots small, bb-style projectiles, the letter says. There was no orange tip on the end of the gun, which is legally required to distinctly separate it from an actual firearm.