Haili Shimko #

Introduction #

Haili Shimko was an Erie, Colorado police officer who was out of a job in early February 2026 after screenshots circulated showing a Facebook comment she allegedly wrote about shooting federal immigration agents. The comment, which read “they wear armor so headshots would work better,” appeared in a thread about Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and drew widespread attention after it was amplified by the right-wing X account Libs of TikTok. The Erie Police Department opened an internal investigation on January 25, 2026, after a resident filed a complaint, and announced on February 3 that Shimko was no longer employed after the inquiry concluded there had been multiple violations of department directives. The department also notified the FBI “due to the nature of the comment,” and the Colorado Office of the Attorney General said a separation notice filed by Erie PD listed Shimko as “terminated for cause.”

Background Information #

Shimko, also reported under the name Haili Hazel-Shimko, was entering her sixth year on the Erie force when the controversy erupted, and she had received the “Top Gun” achievement award during her time at the police academy in 2019. Erie is a statutory town straddling Weld and Boulder counties in northern Colorado; CBS News Colorado described it as a community of about 30,000 residents roughly 30 miles north of Denver. Notably, the Police Department itself never publicly named the officer it investigated; her identity became known after the Attorney General’s office disclosed the separation notice and the news outlets that reviewed the screenshots reported her name.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

The controversy centered on screenshots of a Facebook comment attributed to Shimko in late January 2026. According to the screenshots, she was replying to another commenter who had suggested, in reference to ICE agents, that it was a “good way to get a couple holes in their chest”; the reply attributed to Shimko read, “they wear armor so headshots would work better.” The Daily Camera reported that her comment appeared to condone shooting ICE agents in the head, but stressed it could not independently verify the post Shimko allegedly commented on, and CBS News Colorado said that after reviewing the posts it had not been able to independently confirm the authenticity of the screenshot or the comment. Erie police themselves never released the text of the comment, saying only that the investigation involved “a concern involving a sworn employee’s comment on their social media profile.” A resident submitted a complaint to the department about a social media comment at around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 25 — about three days before Libs of TikTok shared the screenshot with its 4.6 million followers on January 28 — and the department opened an internal investigation that same day, coordinating with Erie town management and human resources and notifying the FBI.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The Libs of TikTok post thrust the small department into a national firestorm. The account alleged that the comment referenced violence against ICE agents and wrote that “anyone promoting the m*rder of federal agents” should not be in charge of enforcing the laws, and the Erie Police Department’s own social media posts were flooded with comments calling for the officer’s arrest. Erie PD publicly commented on the X post to confirm an internal investigation was underway, and an FBI spokesperson told CBS News Colorado that the department “has communicated with the FBI, as is common practice in situations where a federal nexus might exist.” On February 3, the department announced that “the officer is no longer employed with the Erie Police Department,” stating that its chief had concluded after a thorough investigation that there were multiple violations of department directives, though it did not say which directives were violated or how many. The department added that it was “committed to lawful, ethical, and professional policing” and that “serving this community is a privilege, and we do not take that responsibility lightly.” The announcement came amid heightened tensions over immigration enforcement, with The Longmont Leader noting two civilian deaths in Minneapolis tied to the Department of Homeland Security and nationwide walkout protests the preceding week.

Current Status #

As of mid-February 2026, Shimko remained out of the department, but key details of her departure stayed opaque. Erie police spokesperson Amber Luttrell declined to confirm whether Shimko was fired or chose to resign, calling it a personnel issue, and Complete Colorado separately reported that it remained unclear whether she quit or was terminated; the department also denied the outlet’s requests for a record of the investigation. The only official characterization of the separation came from the state: the Attorney General’s office said the notice of separation filed by Erie PD stated she was “terminated for cause.” CBS News Colorado left voicemails for phone numbers listed in public records as belonging to Shimko, and the FBI referred additional questions to Erie police; no criminal charges connected to the comment were reported. Shimko has since removed her social media accounts.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The episode ended, in under two weeks, a policing career that had reached its sixth year and included an academy marksmanship honor, turning a Facebook reply into the latest case study in how quickly an officer’s off-duty social media speech can destroy a law enforcement job. Because Erie police never released the comment text or the investigative findings, the public record of what Shimko actually wrote rests on screenshots that news outlets could not independently verify, even as the department moved to separate from her citing multiple directive violations. The case also fed into a larger national argument, cited by Colorado officials and reported amid claims from the Department of Homeland Security that threats against ICE agents had surged, over how far criticism and rhetoric about immigration enforcement should reach — and what consequences public employees face when their own words appear to cross that line. With her social media presence deleted and the department refusing to release its investigative record, Shimko’s precise path out of the Erie Police Department — resignation or termination — remains publicly unresolved.