Dariss Yearby’s mother is consoled after speaking to Longmont City Council
This story was originally published October 7
Roughly three dozen people arrived at Longmont City Council’s meeting last night to address a single topic that wasn’t even on the agenda: The shooting and death of Dariss Yearby at the hands of a Longmont Police officer.
Yearby’s mother, sister, godmother and several other speakers petitioned city council for about a half hour to take action to hold Longmont Police, and the officer who shot Yearby, accountable for his death.
The first speaker — who chose not to identify herself — requested that city council initiate an independent investigation into Longmont Police’s compliance with the newly passed Senate Bill 26-190, which restricts what law enforcement officers and agencies can publicly say about incidents involving police use of force.
Let’s rewind:
On August 10, three Longmont Police officers arrived at a home where Yearby was holding a woman by her neck while his right hand — which was concealed by a large brown handbag — pointed toward her neck.
Yearby told officers multiple times he had a gun, though the woman told officers repeatedly that he didn’t. “He just wants you to kill him,” she said, insisting that he was suicidal and pleading with officers not to shoot. It was also communicated over dispatch that Yearby was suicidal.
Yearby refused to comply with repeated commands from officers to drop the gun and let the victim go.
A fourth officer arrived and ordered Yearby several times to drop the gun before shooting him. Police never found a gun in the room.
The controversy:
Yearby’s family made several accusations:
Longmont Police erroneously characterized the incident as a hostage situation, and illegally shaped the narrative surrounding Yearby, citing SB 26-190.
Police improperly handled what should’ve been treated as a mental health crisis, despite knowing Yearby was suicidal. Several speakers questioned why de-escalation practices and alternative methods weren’t used. From the moment officers first contacted Yearby, to the moment Yearby was shot, roughly a minute had passed.
Just 30 seconds passed between the shooting officer arriving inside the house to the moment he fires his weapon. He also didn’t respond to another officer’s offer of a TASER, bodycam footage shows.
Several speakers hailed the actions from the first three officers to arrive, and mainly focused their critique on the shooting officer.
“We’re not speaking bad about your officers, but you’ve got a rotten apple,” one speaker said.
Many of the speakers also praised Yearby’s character, citing his love for family, ambition, respect for others, and religious devotion. They said he was suffering from a mental health crisis and needed help.
“He wasn’t in control of himself. He didn’t have a hostage. He had a moment where he needed kindness,” the final speaker said.
An emotional response:
Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring responded to the family’s pleas for justice with testimony of her own, saying she understands the plight of families with loved ones suffering from mental illness. Hidalgo-Fahring became emotional while sharing that her own son was diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia.
“My own son has taken out a knife on us,” the mayor said, and later conceded that there are “fractures” in Longmont.
“We’ve got work ahead of us and I admit that. And we have a commitment to do that. For Dariss and all of our kids who are struggling,” Hidalgo-Fahring said.
The incident remains under investigation by the Boulder County Investigation Team. For more on this case, read this breakdown from the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.
To watch this portion of the city council meeting, click here and skip to the 2-hour, 27-minute mark.