AURORA, Colo. — The person shot and killed by an Aurora Police officer on Thursday has been identified as 14-year-old Jor’Dell Richardson.
According to the Aurora Police Department, Richardson was among a group of teens suspected of robbing a convenience store near 8th Avenue and Dayton Street to get vape cartridges. Interim Police Chief Art Acevedo said while officers were attempting to take Richardson into custody, the teen would not let go of his gun, and “at one point, the officer discharges his firearm.”
At the scene on Friday, neighbors were trying to make sense of what happened.
“When they raised that age limit from 18 to 21 for cigarettes, it drove them kids crazy,” neighbor Anthony Whitfield said.
Whitfield said he regularly visits the strip mall where the alleged robbery and shooting occurred. He described the area as “dangerous” because of young people with guns.
“Where I come from, we die over colors and that’s sad. But to die for a vape pen, come on man. Put your hands in the air,” Whitfield said.
“My concern is the wild Wild West mentality of Aurora and where do we go from here?” neighbor Kurt Manzanares said.
Aurora state rep: ‘This is not OK for our community’
State Rep. Mandy Lindsay, D-Aurora, spent Friday morning outside the convenience store the teens are accused of robbing. She said she did not show up to act as a politician but rather as a person worried about her neighborhood.
“I just live a few blocks away. This is walking distance from my house, and I don’t know. I wish I had better answers of how to solve all these things, because this is not OK. This is not OK for our community,” Lindsay said.
She said she feels compelled to understand more about what happened to Richardson and why.
“There was a life lost. A young life. There is a mother who is devastated, and that just hits me really hard,” Lindsay said. “I have children of my own. I have teenagers that live at my house. I have teenagers that walk and ride a bus and drive up and down this street all the time, and it’s just sad.”
