AURORA | An Aurora police officer who in January fired through a windshield at a teenager believed to be holding a handgun, but was in fact only holding a cell phone, acted appropriately and will not face criminal charges, local prosecutors have concluded.
Officer Darryll Huntsman “reasonably believed he was in imminent danger, which justified his use of force,” Chief Deputy 18th Judicial District Attorney Vicki Klingensmith wrote in a letter released on June 22.
No one was seriously injured during the incident, police said.
Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado
Huntsman was the first officer to respond to a report of a possible burglary near the corner of East Tennessee Place and South Truckee Street at about 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, according to Klingensmith’s letter. A caller told dispatchers that two girls and a boy were walking around the area and talking about “breaking into a house.”
The caller also mentioned that she thought the group had arrived in a red Honda CRV that investigators had determined was stolen earlier that morning.
After locating the CRV parked in front of 17601 E. Tennessee Place, Huntsman approached the vehicle with his department-issued handgun drawn and told the occupants to show their hands. Huntsman then said he saw someone, “‘pop up’ in the backseat, raising a black object in his hand,” Klingensmith wrote. Huntsman then fired at the backseat occupant through the CRV’s windshield, striking the black object that he thought was a handgun.
Investigators later determined that the object the 15-year-old white boy in the backseat was holding was a cellphone.
The boy who was holding the phone was not seriously injured, though he incurred a blister on his finger after Huntsman’s shot caused the device to ricochet out of hand. The teen was eventually arrested on outstanding warrants.
Immediately after firing one round from his Glock 17 handgun, Huntsman muttered “ah s***,” according to body-worn camera footage referenced in Klingensmith’s letter.
That statement gave the chief deputy DA who reviewed the case pause, she wrote.
“Officer Huntsman’s statement of ‘ah s***’ after he fired only one round gave me concern,” Klingensmith wrote. “That statement could be interpreted a number of different ways. Officer Huntsman told detectives he had an ‘oh s*** moment,’ because he thought he could be shot … Officer Huntsman stated he believed the object was a handgun and he feared for his life. I must base my conclusion on evidence rather than speculation.”
In an interview with detectives conducted after the shooting, Huntsman “described the moment as an ‘oh s***’ moment because he though he might die,” Klingensmith wrote. He later said that he approached the CRV with his gun drawn because he knew the car was stolen, and he was concerned the original call was described as a possible burglary. He said, “suspects who commit burglaries were armed 50% of the time,” according to the DA’s letter.
A black pellet gun was later found in the backseat of the CRV, though the weapon was never brandished during the interaction, according to prosecutors.
After the shooting, police found another 15-year-old boy who matched the description of the young person who reportedly stole the vehicle the night before. The teen was also arrested on outstanding warrants.
The two girls the person who originally called 911 described were never found.