DENVER (KDVR) — A man killed by Aurora Police this week was being robbed when he pulled a gun on another man, triggering the police encounter that led to this death, the department said on Friday.
Police have said officers, who observed the bus-stop dispute on surveillance cameras, went to the scene early Wednesday morning after seeing the man pull a gun on someone. But in a Friday update, the department said someone was trying to steal the man’s backpack.
It was around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday at a bus stop in the Del Mar Parkway neighborhood. Officers were watching a camera overlooking the area near East Colfax Avenue and Havana Street when they spotted the dispute, police said.
“Officers immediately responded when they observed one of those men produce a firearm and point it at the other man. Officers arrived at the intersection and aired they were in contact with the armed man. Moments later, the officers aired shots had been fired. Only one officer discharged his firearm,” the Friday release reads.
Two officers were placed on paid administrative leave: the one who fired the shots and another officer who responded and was a witness. An Aurora 32-year-old also was tracked down and issued a summons for misdemeanor theft for trying to steal the man’s backpack, police said.
The man who was killed will be identified by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office.
Interim Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo has previously said the full incident was captured on body camera video.
It’s unclear whether there’s a recording from the camera police were monitoring before the shooting. The so-called “mesh camera” is one of a network of cameras located throughout Aurora that police use to monitor traffic and investigate crimes, according to the department.
The man’s killing is under investigation by the 18th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team. The police department’s Major Crime Homicide Unit is investigating the initial dispute between the two men, according to the department.