Five police shot and killed Brandon Reuter, a former CU student, after he attempted to rob a bank in Los Gatos, Calif.
Shasta County Police Department reported that Reuter was shot by five police officers Monday afternoon, after robbing a teller at gunpoint and attempting to take $3,000 just before 4 p.m.
Dave Compomizzo, Shasta County Captain of Investigations, said officers spotted Reuter running into the bathroom of an auto shop. Officers then called out to him and set up a perimeter, and Reuter ran back towards the bank.
Compomizzo said a police dog was then released to take down Reuter. The dog caught up with him, and allowed the officers time to surround him.
“It all happened within minutes to seconds,” Compomizzo said. “The canine caught up to him, and our officers caught up with the suspect.”
Compomizzo said that when the police dog caught up with the suspect, the officers could get close enough to see that Rueter had a handgun.
“We could see him striking and pointing his handgun at the dog, ” Compomizzo said. “He then directed his gun at our officers, and our officers opened fire.”
Shasta County Police later learned that Reuter’s gun was a B.B. gun, which only closely resembled the 9 mm handgun he was believed to have been carrying.
While attending CU his freshman year, Reuter was arrested on suspicion of stealing $30,000 in electronics from the CU Book Store. This included 80 iPods, according to the CU Police Department. Reuter pleaded guilty to felony burglary and spent 90 days in jail.
When asked about Reuter, Compomizzo said he had a history of crime and potential mental illness. However, some CU students remember him differently.
Matt Keenan, a 20-year-old junior business major, said he met Reuter during freshman orientation, and remembers him as a good friend.
“He was a good guy, really outgoing,” Keenan said. “I never really took him for the type of person to do what he did at CU, and especially not rob a bank.”
Jill Bobrick, a 21-year-old junior advertising major, also met Reuter in the dorms his freshman year.
“From knowing him first semester in the dorms freshman year, I never would have thought Brandon would do something like rob a bank,” Bobrick said. “As for what he was like in person, he was energetic, pretty lively, fun to be around. He was definitely unique, and that is how I will remember him.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Lindsay Mullineaux at Lindsay.mullineaux@colorado.edu.
