EDITOR’S NOTE: This story addresses issues linked to suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or self-injury, call or text 988 or click here: www.988colorado.com
AURORA | Police fatally shot a Black man who investigators said was in the midst of a mental health crisis Thursday while the man was stabbing a veteran canine officer in the head with a butcher knife, critically injuring him.
At about 3:15 p.m. officers were called to an apartment complex in the 14000 block of East Stanford Circle after receiving a report of a 23-year-old man threatening to harm himself and others, according to police.
Aurora police are under a state-imposed consent decree linked to a state investigation that revealed “patterns and practices” of officers using excessive force, especially against people of color.
Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said the call originated from Aurora Mental Health officials, who relayed concerns for the safety of the man, his family members and the surrounding community.
Chamberlain said the man had a history of mental health problems and was previously under a mental health hold.
Officers, along with the department’s Crisis Response Team, which pairs a police officer with a mental health clinician, arrived about 3:45 p.m. and attempted to de-escalate the situation.
Chamberlain said mental health workers initially made contact with the man by phone, but communication later broke down.
Police spent roughly 25 minutes attempting to contain the situation and re-establish communication with the man, officials said.
During that time, officers could see the man inside the apartment holding a large butcher knife to his neck and making threats against himself and others, Chamberlain said.
“This isn’t something that was taken lightly,” Chamberlain said. “This is something where our resources, our personnel came together with the proper resources, the proper equipment, the proper tools to effectively deal with somebody who is experiencing mental health issues.”
When attempts to reach the man failed, a mental health clinician approached the apartment to try to engage the man.
Chamberlain said that at one point, the man abruptly came out of the apartment and charged at officers.
The chief said the man ran directly at the canine-handling officer and began stabbing him repeatedly in the head with the knife.
Chamberlain described the attack as “a full speed head-on charge” and “incredibly overtly aggressive,” saying the knife broke during the assault and a portion remained lodged in the officer’s head.
“This was not something light,” he said. “This is a large butcher knife that was repeatedly thrust into the head of our police officer.”
Other officers deployed a Taser and a 40mm less-lethal launcher, but neither stopped the attack, police said. During the struggle, the injured officer fired his gun, striking the man and killing him.
“The contact itself was seconds — seconds,” Chamberlain said. “That’s how fast that occurred.”
Officers and emergency personnel provided immediate medical aid to both the officer and the suspect.
The suspect was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Chamberlain said.
Police spokesperson Gabby Easterwood said Friday the injured officer is expected to recover from his injuries
“Our officer who was injured during yesterday’s incident underwent surgery last night and is doing well,” Easterwood said in a statement “He remains in the hospital but is awake and speaking with family and medical staff. It is unclear how long he will remain hospitalized, but he is in good spirits as he continues his recovery.”
She reported on the condition of the police dog, too.
“Happy to report our canine is also doing well,” Easterwood said. “He received stitches for his stab wound and remained at the veterinarian clinic overnight for monitoring. He has since been released.”
Police said the injured officer has been with the department since 2002 and has served in the canine unit since 2012.
The 18th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team is leading the investigation into the shooting, while Aurora police are conducting an internal review.
“This situation, it is without question a tragedy,” Chamberlain said. “The only positive thing that came out of it is that our officer is not dead.”
The identity of the man will be released by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office at a later date.
During the press conference, Chamberlain repeated remarks that officers arriving on the scene were prepared and properly staffed to deal with the potentially volatile situation involving a suspect with mental health issues, and in particularly, “suicidal ideation.”
Aurora police were criticized by outside experts and some police personnel who told Sentinel reporters last year that Aurora officers were unprepared for and mishandled a so-called “suicide by cop” call, where the unarmed suspect was shot dead by police.
Despite the allegations, the officer who fired the fatal shot was cleared by 18th Judicial District Attorney Amy Padden of any potential criminal charges.
In the context of this clearly justified shooting, why was it necessary to mention the person’s race or the fact that the APD is under a consent decree? It feels like the Aurora Sentinel is trying to imply that the person’s race was a factor and that the justification was questionable.
I’m so glad that all these comments are calling it out. The headline is weird. It should be man having mental health issue. But obviously they’re trying to push it as a racial issue.
Why did we need to know he was Black? Let’s check other articles for White adjectives.
Heading the article with “black man ” shot by police was donating. He was a very troubled man that savagely attacked a police officer. His race meant nothing to the incident facts. That was cheap journalism.
Neither the race of the man or the consent degree has any bearing on this very tragic story. It feels as a senseless, divisive headline that is simply unnecessary.
I have seen reporting about this tragic incident from multiple media outlets yesterday and today. So far, the Aurora Sentinel is the ONLY news source I have seen mention the person’s race in the headline. Pretty disgusting. Mentioning the Consent Decree was completely unnecessary and not relevant. But hey, I’m sure the hateful race-baiting headline and including unrelated negative history about the police department helped you get more clicks and engagement!
This leftist rag never fails to disappoint. All your failed “progressive” ideology was laid bare in this single episode: The social worker on-site precipitated the attack on law enforcement. A violent, mentally ill man was walking freely. Several innocent lives were endangered by liberal state law. A police officer will have to live with the psychological burden of taking a life. And all you can come up with was “Black man” in an obvious atempt to make this racial. I’m anxiously awaiting MiDian Shofner, Tay Anderson, and the Kylen Lewis goon squad’s appearance at the next city council meeting. To express their deep “remorse.” Sentinel, you suck.
What a terrible headline! This type of journalism shouldn’t be allowed!
I was under the impression that the sentinel, like Kyle Clark were pro Police?
This headline is absolutely disgusting. Shows a lot about who is behind this article.
If a 23-year-old Caucasian male, would the Aurora Sentinel publish “White man shot …”
Trying to not harm the young man, I am sorry that our officer was hurt.
So glad that he survived.
Thank you, APD.
This is not journalism. It is an irresponsible outburst of hysteria from the editor.
No one is buying this nonsense any longer.
Shame on the Sentinel, I agree with all of the previous comments. No need to mention race, other than to generate I’ll feeling towards the APD.
Usually, I like the articles that come out the Sentinel, but this headline is harmful from all angles. I’m saying this as a Black woman of the community. There have been some harmful actions by APD. However, the officer was literally stabbed in the head. There can be bias towards officer’s being more lenient to white people having metal crises. Mental health incidents need to be improved overall, and the bias needs to be fixed. I wish it didn’t end in a tragedy.
Not only do I have a problem with the headline and mention of the consent decree, but I have a problem with the APD policy that while a lethal weapon is being used to viciously attack someone/anyone in their presence are first required to use less-than-lethal to stop it. Both attempts failed to stop it so the officer, that was viciously being stabbed in the HEAD, had to be the one to stop it with lethal force. Mind blowing. Less-than-lethal very frequently doesn’t work to stop someone and should only be used to prevent an attack…not after a lethal and violent attack is actively under way where EVERY split second counts- he is very lucky to have survived while they were gambling with less-than-lethal attempts. This is a result of ridiculous legal actions and outside pressure that are disconnected from reality. Had this been a family member of yours, your child or mother, that officers were watching being viciously stabbed in the head…would you want them wasting time with efforts that may not work to stop the attacker? The answer is NO!
Race baiting straight up.
Schlock journalism, as always. This rag reinforces the negative narrative against the APD which then becomes a self-fulfilling tragedy as suspects react poorly to police presnece necessitating greater intervention force by the police. Dave Perry desperately want to be a crusader. The problem is there is no actaul crusade going on so he has to pretend there is. Just sad.
This is exactly how this should have ended. Taking a wild guess here but I’m sure this man was a menace to his family and society
Typical. These comments sound they come straight from a meeting of the Aurora chapter of the kkk! (Also known as the ‘residents of Aurora’… same thing!) In case anyone is sincere, and really wants to know… Elijah wasn’t murdered by the police. (Well.. at least not directly.) He was ultimately slain by the racist intolerance of a typical racist Aurora resident, who felt uncomfortable about seeing an innocent Black man, walking down the street, minding his own dmd-business!!! (As well as by Aurora’s typical, deep-rooted biased support of such sentiments.) THAT’S what needs to change! And THAT’s why it’s completely relevant that this young person was Black! Duh! That’s just as relevant as his mental state, and you all need to stop pretending that it isn’t! Here… let me put it another simpler way (dumb-it-down a bit): If you don’t believe there’s a REAL predominantly ~anti-Black~ race problem in Aurora… then *YOU* are the problem with Aurora. (Pro’lly secretly lusting for another McClain to vicariously kill.) So… until, there’s an “EQUAL” number of killings of other demographics… then YES!… race is relevant! If that doesn’t make sense to you, then study the concept of ‘statistics’, before publicly attacking poor innocent journalists. For if not for the sake of anyone else, ‘I’ needed to know he was Black… ‘I’ needed to know he was sick, and ‘I’ needed to know how and why he died! So kudos Sentinel! You did your job. ~My~ suggested title would’ve been “ANOTHER Black Man/Child Slain in the Racist Republic of Aurora! (Although this one ~might’ve~ been Justifiable?!?)” -BUT- that’s probably too long. So… I’m good with the one they used.