An unarmed man was shot and killed during an alleged domestic violence incident by Denver police who thought he was armed with a knife when the object was a black marker.
According to body cam footage, the unidentified officer shot 36-year-old Brandon Cole twice. Footage shows Cole in front of an uninvolved woman and young child before cops opened fire. Cmdr. Matt Clark said the officer feared the man would overtake and stab her. One of the officers initially tried to taser Cole, but only one probe of the taser struck him.
Before the shooting, the footage also shows the woman standing against the curb next to a wheelchair, where she immediately told the officer, “Don’t, don’t pull your gun out on my husband, please.” Earlier this year, a Denver police officer was indicted on criminal charges after shooting five bystanders while aiming at a suspect in Lower Downtown last summer.
In a press conference recently, Chief Ron Thomas said, “...this is a tremendous tragedy.” Denver District Attorney Beth McCan will be determining if the officer acted legally when she killed Cole.
We will follow this story for future updates as our condolences go to the family of Brandon Cole.
Link: Denver Post
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