Colorado sheriff's office commander under investigation for waving rifle in training center lobby
UPDATE: Adams County Sheriff suspends division chief over gun incident
Mark Mitchell, one of the top commanders at the Adams County Sheriff's Office, is facing an internal investigation for the way he handled a rifle around other department employees in January.
Mitchell, who is the department's division chief of patrol, traveled to the Flatrock Regional Training Center,23600 East 128th Avenue in Commerce City.
According to a one-minute video of the incident obtained by CBS News Colorado through an open records request, Mitchell can be seen walking into the lobby of the law enforcement training center during daylight hours with a rifle in his left hand. A tactical light attached to the rifle is on.
There are two deputies sitting in the lobby and other employees sitting behind a reception desk.
The video does not have any audio, but it appears one of the deputies points out to Mitchell that his tactical light is on. Mitchell glances at the rifle but then appears to point the weapon toward the reception desk, waving it from side to side momentarily.
He then shakes hands with someone behind the desk and moves on.
It's unknown if the gun was loaded, or what Mitchell said during the incident.
But Sgt. Adam Sherman with the sheriff's office professional standards unit told CBS News Colorado an internal investigation is underway. "The incident is still under investigation," said Sherman. "Unfortunately I do not have an expected conclusion date but the investigation is moving along and should be concluded in the near future."
The incident prompted the department's training division chief, John Bungartz, to issue a memo on Feb. 21 to anyone using the training center.
"To enhance safety practices and for the safety of fellow law enforcement and staff, effective March 1, 2023, all long guns will be required to be secured in a soft or hard case prior to entering the lobby of FLATROCK Regional Training Center," says the memo.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mitchell has nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience. He was just hired as the department's patrol division chief in January.