A man accused of aiming a gun at passing cars in Denver, and later at city police officers, was shot Monday morning when he refused to lower his weapon, investigators said.
“It evolved so very quickly that the officers were unable to do any kind of de-escalation,” Denver police chief Ron Thomas said in a Monday morning news briefing. “They were under immediate threat.”
Denver officers responded at about 10:20 a.m. Monday to reports of a man aiming a weapon at cars near the intersection of West Alameda Avenue and South Lipan Street, Thomas said.
The intersection is on the edge of Denver’s Valverde and Athmar Park neighborhoods, near Interstate 25.
When they arrived, officers spotted a man between two nearby buildings who matched the suspect’s description, Thomas said. The man, who has not been publicly identified, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at officers, he said.
That’s when officers fired “an initial volley of rounds” at the man. Thomas said it’s unclear if he was shot at that time.
More shots were fired about five minutes later, after officers gave the man multiple commands to drop the weapon and moved to better vantage points, Thomas said. This time, he said, the man was struck.
Officers rendered medical aid until paramedics arrived to take the man to a hospital, Thomas said.
As of the 10 a.m. news briefing, the man was in critical condition and in surgery, according to the Denver police chief.
Three of the 10 Denver police officers on scene shot at the man. It’s unclear how many times the man was shot or where he was shot.
“We don’t know if the suspect fired a round or not,” Thomas said. “We do know that he pointed the weapon at officers.”
No officers were injured in the shooting, according to the Denver Police Department.
Alameda was closed Monday for several hours in both directions during the shooting investigation.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.