Zach Gifford Lawsuit Settlement Kiowa County Colorado Update

The family of 39-year-old Zachary Gifford filed a lawsuit last October over his fatal 2020 shooting by two members of the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office — an incident that shattered Eads, the small Colorado town (population: 672) where he was a much-beloved resident.

Such cases often drag out for years, and the circumstances of Gifford’s death were such that a settlement might well have been large enough to bankrupt Kiowa, among the poorest counties in the state, as well as Eads, thereby saddling residents with potentially enormous tax increases, service losses and more.

But Gifford’s parents — Carla Gifford, who taught kindergarten and special education in Eads, and Larry Gifford, a popular coach and PE instructor who also served on the town council and school board — didn’t want…