Editor’s note: This story has corrected the location of the shooting along with the accurate location of the firearm found on Alex Martinez-Sarmiento.

The family of a man shot three times in the back by a Colorado Springs police officer is seeking justice after their loved one was killed in the incident.

The shooting unfolded in seconds in a parking lot at 110 E. Pikes Peak Ave., in downtown Colorado Springs after 1:30 a.m. July 5, 2025.

Officers were dispatched to the area after someone reported seeing a Black man carrying a rifle and screaming at people, according to the significant event briefing video from police. Surveillance footage later showed a man carrying a long, black object police believe was a rifle.

Sometime later, Alex Martinez-Sarmiento, a 26-year-old Hispanic man, was approached by officers after an earlier encounter with him that night. With gun drawn, body-camera footage shows Officer Connor Wallick approach Martinez-Sarmiento and point it at him as the officer tells him to put his hands up, which he does.

Seconds later, Martinez-Sarmiento, who was later found to have a handgun in his right pant leg, runs, and he is shot in the back by Wallick, the footage shows. Police said no rifle was ever recovered.

Attorney Mari Newman of Newman and McNulty law firm said Martinez-Sarmiento did exactly what he was told to.

“Alex was not accused of doing a single thing wrong, and he didn’t do a single thing wrong. All he did was, understandably, (run) when he had a gun drawn on him by a member of a police force that we all know to shoot innocent people in the back,” Newman said during a news conference outside the police station Wednesday.

Colorado Springs Police Department spokesperson Ira Cronin told The Gazette that the department does not comment on pending or active litigation.

According to the lawsuit, at no point was Martinez-Sarmiento told that he would be shot if he did not comply.

Colorado law requires a peace officer to give a clear verbal warning of their intent to use a firearm or other deadly physical force, unless doing so would “unduly place peace officers at risk of injury, would create a risk of death or injury to other persons.”

Federal law also states that the use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects is “constitutionally unreasonable” no matter the circumstances. It also specifies that failure to apprehend a suspect who poses no immediate threat to the officer or others does not justify the use of deadly force.

In December, the shooting was ruled as justified by the District Attorney’s Office, something that Newman disputed.

“The District Attorney, of course, he is going to support police action. We see this over and over,” she said.

Kate Singh, an office spokesperson, said the review of the shooting followed statutory standards of review for critical incidents involving use of force by law enforcement.

She said their office has “high ethical standards and burdens of proof” that must be satisfied before criminal charges can be filed, unlike in a civil lawsuit, which must prove a case by the preponderance of the evidence, or 50% plus.

“It is worth noting in this specific case that Mr. Martinez-Sarmiento was observed on video brandishing a firearm in a threatening way towards other people before he was approached by police. When officers did approach him, they observed what appeared to be a firearm in his waistband,” Singh wrote in an email.

She contested the claim that Martinez-Sarmiento complied with the officers, pointing to the attempt to run from police and that he was allegedly seen reaching toward his waistband, where the firearm was believed to be at the time of the shooting.

An alleged pattern of excessive force

The lawsuit, filed by Martinez-Sarmiento’s elder sister, Saray Rocha, claims that his death was the result of a “longstanding failure” to train, supervise and discipline police department officers.

It catalogs more than a dozen excessive force complaints filed against the department, often by people of color. This includes the 2019 shooting of De’Von Bailey, a 19-year-old Black man who was shot in the back as he ran from officers. Bailey’s family received nearly $3 million in a settlement.

“If an ordinary citizen cannot shoot somebody in the back and walk away without consequences, then why should Connor Jacob Wallick? Why should he continue to wear a badge if he cannot follow the standards and responsibilities that come with it?” Rocha said during the conference.

Another attorney involved in the case, Andy McNulty, said the Police Department is sending a message to people of color: “You’re not welcome here.”

“It has not been very long since the last time we were here because of a police department that has run amok. A police department that has lost touch with its duty to protect and serve and, instead, is terrorizing young people of color,” Newman said.

The quest for change

Rocha said Martinez-Sarmiento, a father to an 8-year-old daughter, was the best brother one could ask for.

“My brother was such a strong person since he was very little. He was not afraid to ever stand up for what he believed in, and he was always just so happy. He’d laugh at everything. He loved his daughter so much. She brought out a side of him that none of us really got to see,” she said.

According to Rocha and her attorneys, Martinez-Sarmiento was out spending the night with his friends to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Rocha said she’s not seeking justice just for her family but also expressed hopes that the lawsuit will produce a meaningful change to law enforcement practices in Colorado.

Newman said there needs to be “fundamental changes” to policing in Colorado Springs, including an oversight committee with teeth to it.

In March, the only public oversight committee for Colorado Springs police was dissolved upon its own recommendation after six years.

Critics within and outside the board said the committee, known as the Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Commission, lacked ways to hold police officers accountable for their behavior.

“If these actions continue (to go) unchecked, another family could be standing where mine is today,” Rocha said.