AURORA, Colo. — The Aurora Police Department released body camera footage showing a fatal officer-involved shooting of a man who ran at an officer, ABC 7 reported.
The incident occurred on May 12 at an airport park-and-ride lot. Police were initially called around 3 p.m. when a 911 caller reported a barefoot man appearing under the influence, wandering the lot. The caller noted that the individual was not threatening, injured or armed, prompting dispatchers to place the call in a lower-priority queue.
Between 3:14 p.m. and 4:59 p.m., additional calls came in, with reports that the man was attempting to open car doors and had become aggressive toward employees. In response, dispatchers elevated the priority of the call, and a patrol officer was dispatched to the scene.
According to Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain, the officer located the man near a grassy area at the back of the property. Body camera video shows the officer attempting to engage the man, who appeared disoriented and unresponsive to commands. The man then charged at the officer, initiating a prolonged and violent struggle.
The video shows the officer deploying a baton and using a TASER twice while issuing verbal commands to back off. Despite repeated warnings, the man continued to advance and ultimately tackled the officer to the ground. Chief Chamberlain said the man managed to grab the officer’s magazine from his belt during the struggle.
The two wrestled on the ground for nearly a minute before the officer, who was alone on the scene, drew his firearm and fatally shot the man.
“This is a tragedy at all levels,” Chamberlain said during a press conference Thursday, emphasizing the department’s commitment to transparency throughout the investigation.
When asked about the delayed response, Chamberlain cited jurisdiction size and the typically low priority assigned to trespassing calls.
“I think the important part is that the absence of a weapon does not mean that there’s an absence of danger, by any stretch of the imagination, and there’s still a deadly threat, and that deadly threat continued to unfold in this event,” said Chamberlain. “Those three or four minutes of being involved in that physical confrontation, I’m sure to that officer must have felt like three or four years.”
The man’s potential intoxication or substance use is also being examined as part of the investigation, which is being led by the 17th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team.
