A 37-year-old Black man shot and killed by an Aurora police officer after an attempted traffic stop and crash Saturday night was armed and charged the officer before the shooting, Chief Todd Chamberlain said Tuesday.
Rajon Montrel Lee Belt-Stubblefield tossed a gun into the grass after he crashed into two vehicles while fleeing an Aurora police officer who was trying to pull him over for speeding, Chamberlain said at a news conference at Aurora Police Department headquarters.
Chamberlain declined to name the officer who shot Belt-Stubblefield, citing the fact that the officer has not yet been interviewed by 18th Judicial District critical incident investigators and that threats were made against the officer and his family.
The encounter happened over the course of five minutes from when the Aurora officer clocked Belt-Stubblefield with a speed radar and tried to pull him over near East Sixth Avenue and Sable Boulevard at 7:29 p.m., according to a timeline shared during Chamberlain’s briefing.
Belt-Stubblefield did not pull over when the officer turned on his lights and sirens, instead trying to evade the stop before rear-ending another vehicle, crossing over the median and hitting a second vehicle.
Belt-Stubblefield did not follow the officer’s orders to stay in his vehicle and show his hands, Chamberlain said. Instead, he got out of his car, tossed a handgun as he walked toward the sidewalk and then started walking toward the officer.
He told bystanders repeatedly to pick up the gun or “get that (expletive),” while moving toward the officer, Chamberlain said. The officer punched Belt-Stubblefield once in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, at which point Belt-Stubblefield became more aggressive, raised his fist and repeatedly asked if the officer was “ready for this.”
The officer shot Belt-Stubblefield as he continued to move toward him, Chamberlain said. He died at the scene.
“This is not something the officer, the department or the city of Aurora wanted,” Chamberlain said. “The officer was performing his duties. He did not choose this confrontation, it was the suspect’s actions that escalated into this.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.