The Denver District Attorney declined to press charges against an officer who shot and wounded a suspect in Paco Sanchez Park earlier this year, writing in a public decision letter that the officer’s use of force was justified.
The park shooting occurred before midnight on Feb. 24 — but the events that led to the confrontation actually began weeks earlier with a drive-by shooting. Denver Police investigators planned to arrest Emanuel Salas, and were preparing a warrant related to drive-by shooting into an occupied home on Feb. 2.
One of the patrol officers who knew Salas, and had interacted with him in the past, was Officer Felipe Cervantes, assigned to District 4 patrol. According to the District Attorney’s letter, Cervantes learned that an arrest warrant was imminent for Salas, and Cervantes began monitoring Salas’ social media. On the night of Feb. 24, Cervantes saw a livestream of Salas and others showing off their Glock firearms near Paco Sanchez Park.
Cervantes and other officers drove to the location of the livestream, where they eventually heard the sound of gunshots. Gunshot sensors in the area confirmed seven shots in two bursts, indicating that the guns used had been modified to fire fully automatic. A 911 call reported five individuals involved in the shooting, some driving Lime scooters and a bike.
Roughly 15 officers, including Cervantes, eventually went to the park, and saw people who fit the descriptions of the suspects riding Lime scooters. Officers chased them using emergency lights and sirens, but they didn’t stop.
Cervantes encountered Salas, who was holding a gun, near a playground. Cervantes yelled to “drop the f— gun! I will shoot you!” according to body camera footage. Salas didn’t obey the commands, and Cervantes shot 10 total rounds at Salas, hitting his right thigh.
“I remember seeing his shoulders kind of start to dip ... and I remember seeing him start to turn,” said Cervantes in an interview with investigators after the shooting. “And so, it was like that level of kind of fear … and I see him turn more, like, silhouette, and I fire as fast as I can to try to get him to drop … I was in fear for my life. I thought he was going to shoot me.”
Officers recovered a black 9mm Glock handgun from the scene with a bullet in the chamber. A magazine fitting the gun was located in the area containing eight bullets.
Another handgun was recovered from a juvenile at the scene that was modified to fire fully automatic, and was equipped with an extended clip, holding 15 live rounds. The gun matched shell casings from the shooting roughly an hour earlier.
The Denver District Attorney, John Walsh, wrote in his decision letter that Cervantes, “mentioned feeling fear, and that ‘final thoughts’ flashed in his mind. He knew Salas had a gun in his right hand. He believed he might be killed. Based on the evidence, I find his beliefs, his fear, and his reactions were objectively reasonable.”
Walsh wrote that the officer acted in self-defense and the defense of others when he fired at Salas. Walsh said his office could not access medical records for Salas and so couldn’t fully describe his injuries. Salas faces attempted murder charges for the Feb. 2 shooting.
“I conclude that his belief that Salas was about to shoot him was objectively reasonable, and his first shots were fired because he reasonably believed he needed to defend himself,” wrote Walsh.
