JeffCo SWAT Leader Resigns After Responding Drunk to Evergreen School Shooting

By Jeremy Jojola | 9NEWS

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A SWAT team leader for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was drunk while responding to the Evergreen High School shooting in September and has resigned amid an internal affairs investigation.

Sgt. Anthony Hamilton was set to be fired for violating the department’s alcohol policy.

According to internal affairs documents, Hamilton admitted in an interview that he drank “the better part of a 12 pack” of beer starting around 6:30 a.m. Sept. 10, the day of the shooting. 

Scores of law enforcement officers began responding to the campus after 12:20 p.m., when the shooting was reported. 

According to Internal Affairs (IA) records, Hamilton admitted he was likely legally intoxicated when he drove his take-home law enforcement vehicle to Evergreen High School while armed and wearing his green SWAT team uniform.

Several officers who were also interviewed reported to the IA unit that Hamilton smelled of alcohol and that his eyes appeared bloodshot and watery while he was inside the school clearing rooms.

The IA records also cite officers who said Hamilton was in an area of the school where he was not assigned to be and that it was “weird” because he was not in his “area of responsibility.”

Other officers noted that Hamilton was drinking coffee while inside the school and wearing sunglasses in the hallways.

“The sunglasses, the coffee, the way Hamilton walked, the way they were randomly clearing rooms, the smell of alcohol, the bloodshot eyes and the fact Hamilton showed up an hour late to a SWAT callout,” the IA document reads. 

The records indicate Hamilton called out of work in the days before the shooting to deal with family issues; however he decided to respond to the school shooting, he told IA investigators. 

“He said his mindset was that he did not expect that a school shooting would happen, and that was the reason he responded,” an IA investigator wrote in the report. “He knew his team would need help. He said that was the wrong decision, stating ‘That was the reason why, and I regret few things in my life more.’”

Records indicate Hamilton resigned on Nov. 10, before he was to be terminated for violating the department’s policy relating to conduct.

Another alcohol incident in 2024

Internal Affairs records also indicate Hamilton was suspended for two days for drinking alcohol at a precinct in February 2024.

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