BOULDER — District Attorney Stan Garnett announced Friday that Boulder police Officers Sam Carter and Brent Curnow have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 1 shooting of a towering bull elk on Mapleton Hill, saying investigators determined the two men conspired to kill the elk as a trophy and for its meat.

The officers are facing felony counts of tampering with physical evidence, attempt to influence a public servant and forgery, as well as misdemeanor charges of unlawful taking of a trophy elk, killing an elk out of season, use of an electronic device to take an elk, and official misconduct.

Carter and Curnow could face prison time and the loss of their official police certification.

The two officers, who are on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation by the Boulder Police Department, were arrested Friday morning and released on $20,000 bond apiece.

According to an arrest affidavit, Carter told police the day after the shooting that he encountered an elk near Mapleton Avenue and Ninth Street late Jan. 1 that he said was injured and needed to be put down. Carter then shot the animal with a shotgun, and Curnow, who was off-duty, came to pick up the carcass with the help of an on-duty Boulder County sheriff’s deputy, identified as Jeff George.

Carter did not report the incident or notify his supervisors that he fired his weapon that night, though he told investigators he called in the incident and did not know why dispatch did not have any record of it, according to the affidavit.

But according to an arrest affidavit, cellphone records obtained from phone carriers for Carter, Curnow and George show the shooting was premeditated.

Carter texted Curnow at 2:56 a.m. — almost 10 hours before the shooting — on New Year’s Day saying “found wapiti (elk) you up,” followed by a text at 4:14 a.m. saying, “Should I go hunting.”

Carter also texted George at 5:56 a.m. saying he had found the elk near Ninth and Mapleton but that he had not shot it.

At 2:45 p.m., Curnow texted, “You should have killed it,” to Carter, who responded, “Oh he’s dead tonight. His right side is broke off at main beam. And he looks a little smaller. He may not be wapiti, but he’s gonna die.”

At 10:43 p.m., Carter texted George and Curnow saying he had found the elk. But when Curnow texted, “Get him,” Carter replied, “Too many people right now.”

But at 11:58 p.m., Carter texted “Elk down,” to Curnow. All of the texts and calls from that night had been deleted on Carter and Curnow’s phones when they were seized for evidence.

Carter also applied for a road- kill permit for the elk with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, saying the elk had broken off an antler, while investigators believe Curnow had sawed the antler off.