Aurora police officers cleared in May 4 fatal shooting of armed man

AURORA | The actions of two Aurora police officers involved in the May 4 deadly shooting of an armed man during a chaotic rush of events in an apartment breezeway were justified, and the officers will not face any charges in the case, according to District Attorney John Kellner.

Officers Michael Laurita and Officer Matthew Crewse shot and killed Rodriguez-Balderrama, 28, when he returned to the scene of a shooting minutes after it occurred in the early evening at apartments at 1416 Clinton St., according to investigations by Aurora police and a Critical Incident Response Team made up of outside police agencies and investigators from the 18th Judicial District in Arapahoe County.

The shooting was the subject of a graphic video created by police weeks after the shooting, seeking to shed light on the incident for the public.

The Aurora Police department is currently under a consent decree imposed by the state attorney general to implement a host of police reforms to address what a state investigation determined were “patterns and practices” of widespread abuse of force by police, especially against people of color.

The police shooting incident began at about 7:45 p.m. when multiple people called police dispatch to report gunfire at the apartment complex.

Callers told police that a man had been shot while outside the apartment complex, and that the shooting suspect had driven away in a red Mustang.

En route, police saw a red Mustang in the area and engaged in a brief chase before losing sight of the car.

“Officers located the victim, a 28-year-old Aurora man, who said (Rodriguez-Balderrama) arrived at his apartment earlier that evening,” police spokesperson Joe Moylan said in a statement. The shooting victim told investigators that he knew Rodriguez-Balderrama, and that at one point, he pulled out a handgun.

The video provided by Aurora police offers graphic detail about the incident, highlighting the volatile and chaotic scene.

“The victim told officers he and another resident ran out of the apartment after the suspect produced the handgun,” police said.

The man said Rodriguez-Balderrama was a friend, and he and his partner were allowing Rodriguez-Balderrama to stay at their apartment.

He “explained that he came home and found Rodriguez with a gun to his head, at which point (the man) called 911,” police and investigators said in a report. “This caused Rodriguez to become angry and chase after (the victim) firing at him both in and around the apartment.”

Rodriguez-Balderrama “fired several shots at him, striking him in the leg.”

While officers were talking with the shooting victim, “several neighbors began yelling that the suspect had returned to the scene,” police said.

Police said Rodriguez-Balderrama was suddenly standing near the shooting victim’s apartment and had a handgun.

“Officers gave the suspect commands to show them his hands, at which point officers fired their handguns,” Moylan said. “The suspect was struck multiple times.”

Rescuers tried to resuscitate Rodriguez-Balderrama at the scene, and he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators said the .40 caliber Glock handgun carried by Rodriguez-Balderrama had an extended magazine, capable of holding 22 rounds, unlawful in Colorado and was “modified to include an ‘auto-sear,’ which allowed the gun to fire on fully-automatic mode,” according to the the CIRT unit investigation report. “Possession of such a device is illegal. There was no ammunition in the weapon. From the evidence and the officer interviews, it does not appear Rodriguez-Balderrama fired at the officers.”

An autopsy report and other parts of the investigation revealed that the two officers fired 15 rounds at Rodriguez-Balderrama, striking him once in the hand and two times in the back. The two bullet wounds in the back were fatal, according to the report.

“The toxicology report for Mr. Rodriguez-Balderrama was positive for fentanyl and norfentanyl (an analog of fentanyl typically found in illicitly produced fentanyl), methamphetamine, and benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine, generally consistent with very recent use of cocaine)” according to the autopsy report. “The concentration of fentanyl in the blood (13 ng/ml) was high, as was the methamphetamine amount (2,400 ng/ml).” 

In late May, Aurora police released the compiled video, which included narration by then interim police Chief Heather Morris.

The video illustrated the same narrative, which the CIRT team and Arapahoe County District Attorney John Kellner said the evidence in the investigation essentially upheld the narrative offered by Aurora police, and that both officers acted appropriately in the case.

“Because each officer’s conduct was legally justified, no charges will be filed against either officer,” Kellner said.