Police Helicopter Crash Fallout: Could Felony Murder Apply?

Defense Attorney Josh Kolsrud Breaks Down the Legal Stakes in the Flagstaff DPS Helicopter Crash

How Felony Murder Could Be Charged in the Helicopter Deaths

Defense attorney Josh Kolsrud explains that felony murder doesn’t require intent to kill — only that a death is a foreseeable result of committing a dangerous felony. In this case, he notes that if investigators determine the suspect was firing at the police helicopter, or even exchanging gunfire with officers while the helicopter was actively involved in the pursuit, felony murder charges could apply. Josh emphasizes that foreseeability is the key legal threshold: when armed violence is unfolding and law enforcement aircraft are involved, a fatal outcome becomes legally predictable, even if the suspect never directly caused the crash.

Why Gunfire Changes Everything Legally

Josh highlights that felony murder could still apply even if the helicopter was struck by a bullet fired by police rather than the suspect. From a legal standpoint, he explains, it’s the suspect’s conduct — engaging in a firefight during a felony — that sets the chain of events in motion. If that conduct creates a dangerous environment leading to death, liability can attach. Josh underscores that under this framework, prosecutors don’t need to prove who fired the fatal shot, only that the suspect’s actions made the deadly outcome foreseeable. If charged, felony murder dramatically escalates the case, placing the most severe penalties, including the death penalty, on the table.

Why This Case Differs from Past Helicopter Crashes

Comparing this incident to the 2007 collision involving two news helicopters during a high-speed chase, Josh explains why prosecutors declined felony murder charges in that earlier case. At the time, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office concluded it wasn’t foreseeable that two media helicopters would collide while covering a chase. Josh says this case is fundamentally different because it involves a law enforcement helicopter operating amid an active firefight, with reports that the suspect may have been shooting toward the aircraft itself. Those facts, he explains, significantly strengthen the argument that the deaths were a foreseeable result of the suspect’s alleged criminal actions, making felony murder charges far more likely.

Key Takeaways from Josh Kolsrud

• Felony murder does not require intent to kill, only foreseeability
• Gunfire during a felony can expose a suspect to liability for deaths that follow
• It may not matter whose bullet caused the crash if the suspect created the danger
• A police helicopter operating in an active firefight changes the legal analysis
• Felony murder charges could put life sentences — or even the death penalty — in play