AURORA | The Aurora Police say officials will hold a press conference Friday to discuss the shooting last week of a 14-year-old boy who allegedly robbed a convenience store with a group of teens.
Jor’Dell Richardson, 14, was shot and killed by an APD officer on June 1 after an altercation at a convenience store near East Eighth Avenue and North Dayton Street.
In another development, the law firm of Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC made clear Thursday they were representing Richardson’s family. The firm represented the family of Elijah McClain in that case, which involved the death of another young Black male after an encounter with Aurora police.
In a statement, the police department said a group of teenage boys had stolen “several vape canisters” from the store and one of them threatened a clerk with a gun.
Richardson, who police said was armed, was shot while a group of officers were attempting to take him into custody and pronounced dead shortly afterwards at an area hospital.
At a June 1 press conference, Interim Police Chief Art Acevedo described the shooting as “a tragedy all the way around” and criticized the teens for viewing life as “a video game.”
Richardson had just graduation a week earlier from Aurora West College Preparatory Academy, according to a teacher who worked there.
Since the shooting, his family has questioned the department’s use of lethal force and asked for body camera footage of the incident.
A GoFundMe page set up by Richardson’s father, Jameco Richardson, described him as “a vibrant and promising young individual who had his whole life ahead of him.”
“Jordell was not a bad kid; he was simply a victim of unfortunate circumstances, associating with the wrong crowd,” the page said. “It is crucial to remember that he is not the demon the APD is portraying him to be. He was loved, talented, and had dreams for his future that will forever remain unfulfilled.”
The campaign has raised $12,000 out of a $15,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon.
In a news release announcing the conference, the department said that on Tuesday afternoon Interim Police Chief Art Acevedo met with “met with counsel and family representatives for Jor’Dell Richardson to review body-worn camera footage of the officer involved shooting.”
By statute, the department must wait 72 hours after showing body camera footage to the public before publicly releasing it.
Police spokesperson Matthew Longshore said details for the conference have yet to be finalized, but that it will take place sometime after 2 p.m. to comply with the regulation. The plan is to publicly release the footage at the press conference, Longshore said, but noted that things could change between now and then.
Police reform activists and Rathod Mohamedbhai have announced that a press conference will be held in coordination with the Richardson family at 3:30 p.m. Friday outside of the Aurora Municipal Center after the release of body-worn camera footage at 3 p.m.
The name of the officer who shot Richardson has not been released. As is standard practice following a police shooting, the officer was placed on paid administrative leave and the incident is being investigated by the 18th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team.
Absolutely tragic.
But 14 is old enough to knowhat he was doing.
His being armed with a gun made the use of deadly forced necessary.
From where to he get the gun? Was the gun loaded and ready to kill?
Hope thathe other teenage criminals are caught and prosecuted.
Proofreading is a great skill for a journalist/newspaper.
I understand the anger but start teaching your children to do the right thing, teach them that life is valuable and unlike a video game you only get one. It’s not always everyone else’s fault take responsibility for your child’s actions. As someone who works with children, I see how they act on a regular basis and it’s like dealing with little child soldiers. You think they are innocent but in reality, they are out here living adult criminal lifestyles and they don’t seem to realize there are consequences. Stop blaming everyone. I do however think that these officers should learn to deal with situations without using excessive violence like shooting a kid. This world has gone to sh**.
“like shooting a kid.” [criminal]
How does one stop a criminal from shooting without shooting the criminal?
Was there time/opportunity to taser the criminal instead of shooting him?
Robbing a store and packing a gun and resisting arrest are not the behaviors of a “good” 14 year old.
I am so grateful that the police were not shot. Parents need to be held accountable for their children’s gun possession and criminal activities. If parents do not, then the police must.
Stop making this 14 year old young man out to be some sort of a hero. He was robbing a store with other thugs, had a gun and wouldn’t obey Police Officers. Pointing a gun and running away from Police Officers will always end badly. Obviously his parents didn’t teach him that. Let’s charge the parents for allowing this to happen. This young man is not a hero and shouldn’t be put on a petal stool. What happened was a tragedy and now the parents want cash out of Aurora from a lawsuit that their attorneys most likely will be filing. Aurora should counter sue the parents. Sad and tragic but, I blame the parents not the cops on this one.
Doesn’t matter how old you are, when you pull a gun on someone you should be prepared to get shot.
Oh yes, he was just the “salt of the earth,” a vibrant young person with a life of dreams. But was too stupid to know he was hanging with the wrong crowd, too stupid to know that robbery isn’t the right nothing to do.
It is tragic, sad, and terribly unfortunate; for his family, friends and others. When you threaten others, there can be terrible consequences for many.
So, here we go again. A young blameless kid, clean-handed, juvenile, senselessly gunned down by cops. The go fund me post set up for Jor’Dell, called his death an injustice.
“Let us honor Jor’Dell’s memory by standing up for what is right,” they wrote. “A injustice-what is right”? How do you figure? Lets see, You start out by stealing a car from someone, You steal some vapes after letting the store owner you have a weapon and mean business, you probably stole the gun, (We will find that out later). Then fight and resist he cops. Jor’Dell’s body is still warm and the parents are already looking at a some city jackpot payout. This thieving, by these kids, spread through sagging law enforcement, akin to business hands off polciy themselves, … here take what you want-no-worries. So here we are. Aurora Council you want more of the Home Depot, King Soopers approach? And further let the city pay out one dime for this? Turn this city in another LA where thieves steal whenever, and whatever? The city has an opportunity to say enough is enough and not roll over for once in their life. Perhaps these parents will also see, its time to take child rearing as something that’s not to be left to some loacl gang affiliation.
Sentinel doing a “journalisming”