By Ava Kian, CPR News
Denver police on Friday identified the person fatally shot by police last week after officers responded to a call of a break-in at a residence near Interstate 225.
Thirty-seven-year-old Joseph Suddreth was shot after a back-and-forth with police officers. Officers believed he was armed with a knife, but a DPD investigation so far shows that he had a metal rod in his hands.
At about 1:50 a.m., police got a call from a person who said she saw someone on her camera breaking into her shed, according to Major Crimes Division Commander Matt Clark.
Clark said that when the two officers arrived, they saw someone moving in the shed.
After they told the individual to come out, he exited with what they believed to be a knife, Clark said. DPD said Friday that Suddreth did not have a knife but instead was holding a metal kitchen sharpening steel — a metal rod about 12 inches long with a wooden handle.
Officers ordered him to drop the object, and he placed it on a brick wall next to him, Clark said. He then moved his hands toward his jacket pocket and was immediately ordered to remove his hands, but instead grabbed the metal object and walked in the direction of one of the officers, Clark said.
They then shot Suddreth multiple times, discharging 11 rounds, Clark said. Suddreth was taken to a hospital in an ambulance and pronounced dead.
DPD Chief Ron Thomas said that while it’s up to the district attorney to decide if the use of force was necessary, he feels the weapon not being a knife won’t change the investigation.
“There is reason to believe the weapon could have caused death or injury had it been used in the manner it was being threatened,” Thomas said. “I think that someone moving toward you with an object like that looks very much like a knife and actually could provide lethal results … I would expect an officer to defend himself in that situation.”
The shooting remains under investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado State Patrol, the DPD homicide unit and the District Attorney’s office.
Both officers involved in the shooting joined DPD in 2024, Clark said. He added that one of them has previously been involved in a shooting incident, while the other has not.
