On Sunday, Nov. 4th 2018, it was reported that 39-year-old Robbie Ramirez had been shot to death in Laramie, Wyoming by a deputy from the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. Ramirez spent his life battling mental illness. The two reportedly graduated high school together, as the family of Ramirez believes Colling was aware of the victim’s mental illness.
Mother of the victim, Debra Hinkel, claims she heard he tried to get home after a traffic stop. Hinkel, who’s been the owner of a healing center for seven years, didn’t support Albany County Sherriff O’ Malley’s decision to hire the deputy she heard is responsible for her son’s death. However, she is supportive of the work O’Malley has done to help make sure officers are trained in how to handle people who suffer from a mental illness.
However, since the initial reports of that shooting Ramirez’ family has identified the deputy who killed him as former LVMPD Officer Derek Colling. No doubt that has not been confirmed by Albany County officials because Sheriff Dave O’Malley, who hired Colling even though he was fully aware of his previous firing, is currently running for reelection. With voters heading to the polls later today, reports that an unpopular hiring decision by O’Malley has resulted in a fatal shooting would be pretty inconvenient for him.
According to previous media reports, Colling was fired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2011 for beating a videographer who refused to turned his camera off during a police incident. He had also been involved in the killing of two civilians, including a mentally disabled individual.
It looks like he was fired for beating civilians, killing them appears to have been okay.