UPDATE: Denver's Office of the Medical Examiner on Sept. 16 identified the man fatally shot by Denver police as Christopher Escobedo, 33. His cause of death was from multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was homicide.
Denver Police Lt. Matt Clark said during a press conference on Sept. 16 that during the Sept. 12 incident, Escobedo used a woman as a "human shield" and held her at gunpoint while he confronted officers. An Adams County deputy shot Escobedo; after falling to the ground, Clark said Escobedo kept moving and pointed a gun at cops. This prompted two Denver police officers and two additional Adams County cops to shoot Escobedo. He died at the scene
Police officers killed a man near the corner of West Colfax Avenue and Meade Street early Saturday morning. Authorities said the victim, who has not been named publicly, shot at officers during a car chase and would not drop his gun when they later contacted him on foot.
DPD Division Chief Ron Thomas said the car chase began near 58th Avenue and Broadway, just north of Globeville, in Adams County. Sheriff deputies from Adams County tried to pull the driver over for an unnamed "traffic infraction," Thomas said during a briefing Saturday morning. The man did not stop and shot at officers from the vehicle, Thomas told reporters.
Denver police became involved in the chase, which entered the city. After about 15 minutes, authorities forced the driver to stop by ramming their bumper into the vehicle and causing it to spin, Thomas said. That's when he said the man and a female passenger got out of the car and headed on foot to the backyard of a house in the 1500 block of Meade Street.
Thomas said the man was armed and refused commands by officers to drop his weapon. Three DPD officers and two Adams County deputies shot the man, who died at the scene at 4:24 a.m., a DPD spokesman told Denverite. DPD would not disclose how many rounds were fired or where the man was shot, citing an open investigation.
Nobody injured any police officers, and Thomas said the female passenger was uninjured.
DPD would not release the name, race, age and other identifying details of the victim or officers, citing an open investigation.
