The family of Rashaud Johnson, an unarmed man who was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer this spring, sued the Aurora Police Department and the officer on Tuesday.
Lawyers for the family say Officer Brandon Mills did not properly de-escalate the situation before he shot Johnson twice in the torso. Johnson’s hands were visibly empty, the lawsuit states.
“Officer Mills should have, as every officer is trained to do, de-escalated the situation using time, cover and distance,” said Neil Sandhu, one of the family’s attorneys. The family is being represented by the law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai.
The shooting happened May 12 at an off-site parking lot serving Denver International Airport. Parking lot staff had called 911 to report that a man was trying to get into cars and needed help.
After Mills arrived, he and Johnson had a physical altercation, with both wrestling on the ground at one point, as shown in footage from the officer’s body-worn camera.
The lawsuit claims there was no threat of serious bodily harm to Mills. Once the two men got up, the officer tried to get Johnson to lie down on the ground.
“I’m going to [expletive] shoot you dude. Get on the ground,” the officer is heard saying in the footage.
As Johnson began walking toward Mills, the officer shot him from about 15 feet away, the lawsuit states.
Johnson lay face down on the ground and Mills continued to point his gun at him, according to the lawsuit. Mills called for backup, saying over his radio that Johnson had grabbed magazines of bullets off his belt.
Mills did not immediately provide medical aid to Johnson, instead aiming his gun at the mortally wounded man until Denver police officers arrived, according to video footage and the lawsuit.
“We’re going to get him in cuffs and start providing aid,” Mills said over his radio.
Officer Mills did not apply pressure on Johnson's wounds for 5 minutes and 42 seconds after he shot him, according to the lawsuit.
Johnson died in a field next to the parking lot. He bled to death, the lawsuit states.
The shooting happened at The Parking Spot, near East 56th Avenue and Himalaya Street — one of several off-site lots where private companies run shuttles to the airport.
Parking lot staff called for help several times.
The people working at the lot called 911 five times. The dispatcher did not initially send an officer or a mental health professional from the Aurora Mobile Response Team.
After the fifth call, Mills was sent alone to the lot.
The attendants told dispatch that Johnson was unarmed and needed help. They said he was trying to get into cars. They said they had given him water and he had walked in and out of the office.
When Mills arrived on the scene, he got out of his car and approached Johnson, asking why he was barefoot and telling him he needed to leave. The lawsuit says Mills corralled Johnson against a fence, blocking him from leaving.
That’s when Johnson rushed Mills and a short scuffle broke out, with Mills using a baton to get Johnson to step back, the footage showed.
Meanwhile, the parking lot attendants called the police again; while they were on the phone, Mills shot Johnson.
“The cop shot him,” an employee said over the phone. “I just wanted him off the lot.”
According to the lawsuit, when the dispatcher said the attendant had done the right thing by calling 911, the employee responded: “It don’t feel like it.”
Mills later told a Denver Police Department officer that Johnson was unarmed, but he said he thought at one point Johnson had taken his stun gun. Bodycam footage doesn’t make it clear whether that’s true.
This is the first time Mills has fired his weapon while on duty, according to aurora police. He was put on administrative leave as internal and external investigations were underway. The outcome of those investigations is not clear.
Aurora police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Who was Rashaud Johnson?
Rashaud Johnson, 32, was a comedian who performed at clubs around Denver. He lived less than a mile from the parking lot, according to his parents. He studied economics at the University of Colorado.
He was his mother’s only child. His mother, Taushica Carter, a military veteran, said she couldn’t understand Mills’ actions.
“I have a hard time knowing that this person took an oath, and still took my baby’s life,” Carter said during the press conference.
The city was rocked in August 2019 by the killing of Elijah McClain, who died after a paramedic injected him with ketamine as he was forcibly detained by local police. After McClain’s death, the city of Aurora entered a consent decree, promising to address racist policing and excessive use of force.
The Office of Independent Consent Decree Monitor for the city of Aurora has been tracking the city’s progress on its promises. According to the office’s most recent report from April, the police department has achieved “substantial compliance” on 57 out of the consent decree’s 78 mandates.
