Man found guilty of shooting at Pueblo police and sentenced to 96 years in prison

PUEBLO, Colorado – According to Tenth Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner, James Justice was sentenced to 96 years in prison after being found guilty of his actions on January 29, 2021.

BACKGROUND

According to the Office of Tenth Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner, the following events occurred on Friday, January 29, 2021.

At around 12 noon, Pueblo police received a call from an anonymous woman
They said a man (later identified as James Justice) threatened an unknown couple outside the Motel 6 at 4103 N. Elizabeth Drive.

At approximately 12:13 p.m., PPD Officer Anthony Cordova arrived on scene and contacted James Justice in the parking lot near Pueblo Sleep Solutions. Officer Cordova exited his vehicle and asked to speak with Justice.

Justice felt through his jacket and a plastic bag before pulling out a .410 Taurus Judge.

Justice fired three to four shots at the officer, striking his patrol car. Officer Cordova fired four shots back at Justice, but missed each time.

Officer Cordova then began pursuing Justice at DJ's Steakhouse and the liquor store. During the chase, a citizen told the officer that Justice ran past a dumpster behind the liquor store.

Several additional PPD units arrived and surrounded the dumpster, but it was later determined that Justice had actually jumped over a fence leading to the Pueblo Grande Village Mobile Home Park and lost a shoe in the process.

PPD Officer Aaron Sanders deployed a PPD drone to track Justice through the trailer park and provide updates to officers searching the park for Justice.

PPD Officer Richard Giconi found Justice at 202 Post Street in the trailer park.

Officer Giconi exited his vehicle and gave Justice several verbal commands. Justice ignored all commands and ran. Officer Giconi chased Justice around trailer #202.

As Officer Giconi walked around the back of the RV, Justice fired two shots at him.

Officer Giconi threw himself to the ground to avoid being hit by the bullets and then fired back seven times with a .223 rifle. All seven shots missed Justice.

Justice then fled through a neighboring yard and emerged next to RV site #217. There, Justice dropped several shell casings, a black backpack, earplugs, a purple lighter, and an electrical cord.

It is also believed that Justice reloaded his pistol at this time.

PPD Officer Sanders told PPD Detective Chad Jefferies and PPD Officer Scott Vahlbusch that Justice was hiding behind a red truck.

Justice, who was actually hiding behind the red truck, fired shots in the direction of Detective Jefferies and Officer Vahlbusch before running across the street and shooting at the officers again.

Justice zigzagged across the street and ended up at trailer park number 225 on Loras Street.

Detective Jefferies continued to pursue Justice and took cover in trailer park #228. From there, Detective Jefferies fired three .223 shots at Justice.

One of the bullets pierced an aluminum shed behind which Justice was hiding and hit him in the left leg.

PPD officers encountered Justice and took him into custody before calling medical personnel.

Justice was later charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts of first-degree assault.

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