AURORA | A violent fight between a man and three Aurora police Monday evening in and around a central Aurora apartment left the man dead and two officers injured, police said.

Police said they were called to the Willowick Apartments in the 10600 block of East Jewell Avenue at about 6:15 p.m. Monday after a family there told dispatchers an adult male was threatening other family members.

Upon responding to the scene, two female officers and one male officer heard screaming and found a man “violently choking” another man inside an apartment. Other family members, including several small children, were also at the home, Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz told reporters at a press conference Tuesday evening.

The officers then ordered the man, who police described as a “very large” African-American male in his 30s, to stop choking the other man. When he refused, officers discharged their Tasers on the attacker, which prompted no reaction, according to Metz.

“The Tasers had absolutely no impact on this man,” he said.

After being shocked by officer’s Tasers, the men tackled one or two of the officers into an area outside of the apartment, where a hand-to-hand melee ensued for almost seven minutes, Metz said.

The officers repeatedly told the man to comply and get on the ground while shocking him with Tasers, beating him with batons and using their hands to try to restrain him. Their efforts proved futile, Metz said.

“He was … just an individual that just was feeling no pain upon officers attempting to gain compliance and complain control,” Metz said.

At one point during the skirmish, the man started choking the male officer and tried to wrestle away a baton and a Taser.

One of the officers was eventually able to call for a citywide police response to resolve the situation. About 20 officers responded to the brawl, police said.

Officers were eventually able to get the man on the ground and attempted to place handcuffs on his wrists, Metz said. Officers then realized he was unresponsive. Police and later Aurora firefighters tried to revive the man before he was transported to a local hospital.

He was pronounced dead on arrival, Metz said.

Both Metz and Arapahoe County District Attorney said forthcoming reports from the county coroner could reveal how and why the man died.

“The things that remain unknown are important things to get answers to before more information is given to the public,” Brauchler said. “There’s an autopsy, we’ve got to get a coroner’s report back, we’ve got to get toxicological reports back.”

A spokesperson for the Arapahoe County Coroner’s office said the man who died will likely be identified tomorrow.

Brauchler said authorities are currently following the same protocols as they would following an officer-involved shooting, even though Aurora police did not shoot the man who died.

Both Aurora and Denver major crimes units are investigating the incident, as is regular procedure regarding an officer-involved death.

Metz said he believed the officers involved could have been justified if they had chosen to use lethal force.

“There were probably some times in there where I believe lethal force may have been justified, but I think our officers were thinking very clearly about what the impacts of that could be, not only to the man, but anybody who’s around the immediate area who could obviously become part of any kind of a crossfire situation,” he said. “I believe the officers made the right call on that.”

The man who died was 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighed about 230 pounds and was “very muscular,” Metz said.

The man was unarmed except for the instances in which he attempted to wrangle batons and Tasers from officers, Metz said.

Two officers involved in the scrum — one male and one female — were taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, but have since been released.

After reviewing footage of the fight recorded on the officer’s body-worn cameras, Metz said the incident was one of the most violent he’s ever seen.

“I’ve been in this job for 35 years, seen a lot of stuff,” he said. “And this was one of the most violent altercations I have seen in my career.”

Brauchler, too, said the tussle was extraordinary.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” he said.

#APDAlert Officers responded to a large disturbance in the 10600 block of E. Jewell Ave. APD Major Crimes Unit en route. 1 party has been pronounced deceased. PIO on scene. All updates here. pic.twitter.com/K3dMHgLTRY

— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) December 18, 2018