Patrick Joseph Bustamante, 50, died of a single fatal gunshot wound inside his Colorado Springs apartment on December 3, 2018. Initial accounts were unclear; his son, 23-year-old Patrick Salazar-Bustamante, first told investigators he had found his father unresponsive and concealed the firearm and the shell casing involved in the shooting. Investigators later determined the younger man fired the shot while showing his father how to take a gun apart.

Authorities charged Patrick Salazar-Bustamante with manslaughter, alleging his reckless handling of the firearm caused the death. The judge who sentenced him described the outcome as devastating for the family and ordered three years in a community-based prison alternative rather than traditional incarceration, stating probation would be insufficient but a prison term too harsh for what was judged negligent. The prosecutor argued the death was not simply a freak accident given the foreseeable risk of handling a gun around another person.

If anyone knew Patrick Bustamante or has information about what happened that day, please share what you know.