Former Colorado police officer sentenced to prison in deadly shooting of teen

A judge sentenced former Greenwood Village police officer Adam Holen to two years in prison and three years probation on Thursday in the deadly shooting of a 17-year-old. A jury found Holen guilty of manslaughter in February. 

Peyton Blitstein had just turned 17 when he was killed in November 2021. Holen was no longer a police officer at the time of the fatal shooting.

Doorbell video showed Holen confronting Blitstein and his friends about speeding through a southeast Aurora neighborhood. As the argument escalated, doorbell video showed both Holen and Blitstein pulling out guns and firing. 

After the teen was hit, Holen performed CPR. According to an arrest affidavit, Holen admitted to pulling his gun first, saying he felt threatened. But he said the teen fired first.

According to the arrest affidavit, the gun found near Blitstein was a ghost gun and didn't have a serial number.

After the sentencing hearing in court on Thursday, Blitstein's family reacted to the sentence. 

"It's sad that when you have the training you have and you decide to take someone's life, and you don't utilize that training you only get two years in jail... it's a sad and pathetic decision," said Blitstein's father Todd Blitstein.