Inset: Brandon Allen (Boulder County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Colorado neighborhood where Brandon Allen shot his ex-wife in the neck and thigh while her children were in the backseat of her car, which was parked in her driveway (KUSA/YouTube).
A Colorado man is headed to prison for decades after shooting his ex-wife in the neck and leg while she was sitting in a car with their kids in the backseat.
"I think I just killed my ex-wife," Brandon Allen, 48, told a police dispatcher after calling 911 to report the gun attack, which unfolded in his ex-wife's driveway at her Longmont home in March 2024, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Allen's ex, Nicki Douglass-Johansen, survived the shooting. She told the Longmont Daily Times-Call that doctors believed one of the bullets entered through the left side of her neck, sliced one of her right carotid arteries, then hit the right side of her neck and "bounced all around" before coming into contact with her jaw and shattering.
The couple's 7-year-old twins were in Douglass-Johansen's station wagon with her when Allen, who was sentenced this week to 41 years in prison after entering a plea agreement for attempted murder, opened fire.
"Two kids were in the backseat of this vehicle when the shooting occurred but were uninjured," the affidavit says. "[One of the children] said he and his sister were in the backseat of the vehicle about to go to the store with their mom."
According to the boy, "Their dad … shot their mom twice" and they "both got down in their seat because they did not know if their dad was going to shoot them as well," the affidavit says. Allen fled from the scene in his car and the children rolled a window down and yelled for someone to call 911.
"[The children] commented their dad is evil and said something along the lines of, mom got shot in the head, do you think she will remember us?" the affidavit recounts.
Douglass-Johansen's mother told cops the kids have all lived there with their mom in Longmont for six years and Allen "has never lived there." The mother was upstairs in the residence and heard two shots and got up to see what it was.
"She saw Brandon standing near the rear passenger side of the green vehicle with a gun in hand," the affidavit says. "Brandon turned and walked to his vehicle and left."
Authorities began canvassing the area for Allen, who called 911 during the search and said, "I think I just killed my ex-wife" and "I fired a gun at her," according to the affidavit.
Allen was later located in his vehicle on the side of Highway 36 near Lyons. While officers were planning to apprehend Allen, he drove away and led police on a brief pursuit. Officers tried to use a pit maneuver to stop him, but he continued driving and began firing shots out of his vehicle, per the affidavit.
"At least one more [pit-maneuver] was applied and this one led to Brandon stopping," the affidavit says. "Brandon exited his vehicle and was not complying with commands from officers. This led to him being bit by police K9 before being arrested."
After being arrested, Allen continued to tell officers how he "shot and killed his ex-wife." He claimed to have told people "this was going to happen, and that he heard voices," according to the affidavit.
"Officers located two empty PBRs and 2 empty shooters in the vehicle along with four butane cans," the affidavit adds. "Brandon was observed to be slurring his words, had bloodshot eyes, and had the odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage on his breath."
Court documents show that a protection order was in place that prohibited Allen from possessing a weapon. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder, vehicular eluding, child abuse, crime of violence, and criminal mischief.
"This horrific, brutal shooting was an outrageous act of domestic violence," Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told Law&Crime in a statement. "The victim is lucky to be alive. It is because of her courage, and that of her kids, that she is alive today and the defendant received this lengthy sentence to state prison. Based on his actions and lack of genuine remorse, the defendant certainly deserves this sentence."
Boulder County District Court Judge Thomas F. Mulvahill sentenced Allen to 41 years in the Department of Corrections — the maximum punishment allowed under the plea deal — and 240 days in jail, with 10 years of probation. He was given credit for 775 days served.
"Everything that you say you did for your children was obliterated the moment you shot their mother," Mulvahill said during Allen's sentencing hearing, according to the Longmont Daily Times-Call.
"I'm sorry," Allen told the court. "I did become the monster."
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