By Noelle Phillips
The Denver Post
AURORA, Colo. — Aurora police officers ordered the man they fatally shot while protecting his home early Monday to drop his gun multiple times, but they did not identify themselves as police before an officer fired four shots, Chief Nick Metz said.
Multiple officers already had heard gunshots from inside the home at 10609 E. Montview Blvd. and were standing near the front door’s threshold, looking into the well-lit home when they saw homeowner Gary Black come around a corner holding a gun and a flashlight, Metz said.
“For the next 13 seconds, officers continued to give at least five commands to Mr. Black to drop the gun and to show his hands,” Metz said Thursday at a news conference. “We don’t know why, but for whatever reason Mr. Black did not drop the gun.”
Black had significant hearing impairment because of his military service, Metz said. Also, the scene was noisy from people screaming, including Black’s 11-year-old grandson, who had been violently attacked by a naked intruder.
For the first time since the early Monday morning shooting, Metz addressed the media about what happened in the early morning hours when a naked stranger burst through the front door of the Black family home and began attacking the grandson sleeping on the couch. Black, a decorated Vietnam veteran and retired federal government employee, grabbed his 9mm pistol and killed the intruder, 26-year-old Dejon Harper.
Metz defended the actions of his officers, including the one who fired the fatal shots, and said tears had been shed at the Aurora Police Department over the tragedy. He said threats had been made against Aurora police officers in connection with the shooting.
“There was a reference that our officers acted recklessly,” Metz said. “I dispute that strongly. They were not reckless. They responded how I would expect them to respond given the limited amount of information they were given.”
Metz also hailed Black as a hero for defending his family.
“There’s no doubt in my mind in any shape or form that Mr. Black saved his family’s life that night,” Metz said.
Metz played audio between officers and a dispatcher and said he would release some 911 calls. But he will not released the body camera footage from officers at the request of the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which is conducting the ongoing criminal investigation into the police shooting, and because the Black family has asked that it be withheld.
In a statement, the family said, “The family desires space to grieve and does not wish to have the final and violent moments of Gary’s distinguished life be his public legacy.”
Metz insisted officers were not given a physical description of the suspect, but he also admitted that large portions of the 911 calls and body camera videos are inaudible because of screaming and yelling.
Earlier this week, attorneys representing the Black family said Jeanette Black, the wife, had told 911 operators and officer on the scene that her husband was white and wearing a bathrobe.
But Metz said that cannot be heard on the 911 audio or body camera videos. Metz promised to hire forensic audio experts to try to interpret the garbled sounds.
When Jeanette Black called 911, an operator asked whether anyone had weapons, Metz said.
“The caller asks somebody else, ‘Are there weapons?’ and the answer came back as no,” Metz said.
There was no physical description of the suspect. The caller said the person was in the bathroom and hurting the child. The caller said there was lots of blood everywhere, Metz said.
When officers arrived on scene, however, Jeanette Black said, “He has a gun,” according to Metz, who has listened to the audio from police radio and watched the body camera footage.
Metz said he allowed the Black family to watch the videos and listen to the audio recordings on Thursday.
The Black family said in its statement, “The 911 telephone call by Mrs. Black was difficult to understand as large portions are unintelligible. The family acknowledges the APD’s position that the responding officers did not receive a description of the intruders.”
Police were first called to the neighborhood around 1:30 a.m. after multiple people called from a party at a home on the corner of Iola Street and Montview Boulevard. Callers reported that a man, now identified as Harper, was on drugs and out of control.
Callers said he was damaging cars and had injured himself, according to Metz’s account. But many of those callers were hanging up on dispatchers or providing incomplete information.
One caller, when asked for his location, said, “I don’t know where I am. Just get here,” Metz said.
Harper, for unknown reasons, ran to the Black home and began pounding on the door. He knocked the door off its hinges and went inside. He grabbed the 11-year-old boy sleeping on the couch and took him into a bathroom where he began choking and attempting to drown the child, Metz said.
“I won’t go into the graphic details other than to say the child was violently assaulted,” he said.
Multiple people from the party had followed Harper into the house to try to stop him, Metz said. That contributed to the chaos for the officers and the Black family, he said.
After officers heard the gunshots, they saw Black walk around a corner and then turn back. He came toward them again as they ordered him to drop the gun. Black raised his flashlight toward them before the one officer fired, Metz said.
“It was that time my officer fired four rounds, causing Mr. Black to fall to the ground,” Metz said.
The chief refused to speculate as to why other officers decided to hold their fire, and he did not give details as to where each officer was standing as Black approached.
“I wanted to give you a picture of what was going in that house. It was a very chaotic situation. A very violent situation,” Metz said.
Metz confirmed that the officer who fatally shot Black was the same one involved in a fatal shooting in late June. Metz said the officer, who has not been identified but is a three-year department veteran, went through all the requirements necessary to come back after a shooting, including peer support, psychiatric services and gun range training. He spent 15 days on leave before being declared fit for duty.
“I believe this officer was ready to go back,” Metz said.
Because of the officer is under investigation for two shootings, Metz said he asked the 18th and 17th judicial district attorney’s offices to expedite their investigations. The 18th Judicial District is investigating the June 27 shooting outside an East Colfax Avenue motel.
Jess Redman, assistant district attorney for the 17th Judicial District, said he wanted to uphold the integrity of the investigation and had asked that body camera footage and Jeanette Black’s 911 call be withheld.
“I’m committed to the victims of crime and in this scenario that’s the Black family and the Harper family,” Redman said.
©2018 The Denver Post