Denver police shot man twice during fireworks investigation, video shows

A man was shot twice by police studying fireworks earlier this month when he allegedly pulled out a gun and when shot threw it into the rocks next to a Denver home police reported Two Denver officers were reviewing fireworks in the city s Montbello neighborhood just after p m on July While driving the pair discovered a group of people standing next to a fireworks launcher outside a house in the block of Del Rio Court Less than seconds after they arrived one officer shot a man twice in the house s driveway body-worn-camera video issued by the Denver Police Department shows That man who has not been publicly identified had begun to retreat into the house s garage when police arrived the video shows What are you walking away for as soon as the cops show up one officer can be heard asking on the video Get back over here That officer starts to follow the man up the driveway but the officer stops and pulls out his gun Get your expletive hand out of your waistband the officer says raising his gun toward the man Hands up Hands up The man appeared to be arming himself and was looking over his shoulder with his back to the officer Matt Clark commander of the Denver Police Department s Major Crimes Division explained in a Wednesday news conference In the body-worn-camera video the man appears to be turning toward the officer with his hands in the air when the officer fires twice It s unclear if anything is in his hands because of a blur placed over the man s head by the police department The man isn t holding a gun when he collapses to the ground the video shows Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas called the officer s actions a reasonable response in the news conference His movements were obvious he was accessing that weapon he did have a weapon the officer recognized that he had a weapon Thomas commented It s just fractions of a second that it would take someone to move from a place where they have a weapon in their hand to where that weapon is being pointed at that officer and shots being fired Related Articles Motorcyclist killed in Jefferson County crash on westbound I- Second suspect sought in fatal Arapahoe County house party shooting Aurora girl who disappeared in still missing FBI says Denver police search for leads in fatal assault Moose spotted off th Avenue in Evans The man was shot in the leg and is expected to survive Clark declared Oh my god the second officer can be heard saying on video from her own body-worn camera Wait does he have a gun The officer who shot the man tells his partner that the man threw the gun into the rocks on the side of the house but the body-worn-camera video does not show either officer retrieving it Investigators recovered a loaded handgun from the rocky area next to the house after the shooting Clark stated Thomas disclosed the man threw the gun after he was shot The officer who has not been identified joined the police department in and has not been involved in any previous police shootings Clark announced This is a growing story and may be updated Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day