Fort Collins officers justified in fatally shooting of a man who charged at officers with a hatchet

A 28-year-old man was killed after they were shot by a Fort Collins Police officer Thursday night.

At about 9:34 p.m., Fort Collins Police Services received a call about a man in the alleyway in the 100 block of West Laurel Street who was yelling racial slurs and had possibly attacked someone with a weapon, according to police. As officers were responding to the scene, they were told the suspect may have attacked another person with pepper spray, police said.

When a Fort Collins Police officer arrived on the scene, he noticed the suspect in the alleyway holding pepper spray and an "edged weapon," police said in a release.

According to police, the officer gave commands for the suspect to drop his weapons and the suspect did not comply. The suspect then moved toward the officer and the officer used his Taser, police said.

The suspect continued to walk toward the officer, according to police. That is when the officer fired his duty weapon several times, hitting the suspect, who was later identified as William L. Hayes, police said.

More Fort Collins Police officers arrived and began to render medical aid to the suspect, according to police. The suspect was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.