AURORA | Hours after the Aurora Police Department promoted its de-escalation training efforts, touting that no officer-involved shootings had happened so far this year, police fatally shot a 23-year-old Black man who stabbed an officer during a mental health crisis.
Aurora police have been under state and public scrutiny for several years because of controversy over the department’s use of excessive force and officer-involved shootings, especially involving people of color.
During an April 9 presentation to a city committee, Police Commander Patrick Shaker said the department cleared the first quarter of the year without any officer-involved shootings.
A few hours after the presentation, officers responded to a mental health crisis call, where a man was threatening himself and others with a knife. While attempting to communicate with the man, he charged at police and stabbed an officer multiple times in the head, police said in a statement.
Police said officers on scene used a Taser and a 40mm less-lethal launcher, but neither stopped the attack. During the struggle, the injured officer shot the man, killing him.
The man has not yet been identified by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office. The 18th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team is leading the investigation into the April 9 shooting, while Aurora police are conducting an internal review.
Aurora police are under a state-imposed consent decree that stems from a state attorney general investigation that revealed “patterns and practices” of officers using excessive force, especially against people of color.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain and Shaker updated the Public Safety, Courts and Civil Service Policy Committee about the department’s efforts to improve its de-escalation training at the April 9 meeting.
Shaker reported there were 117 use-of-force incidents to date in 2026. Of those incidents, 91 involved minor force and 13 were dubbed Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT, maneuvers on cars.
Shaker said the police department has embraced a “cultural shift,” prioritizing less lethal tools, including the 40mm launcher, to help de-escalate situations and reduce officer-involved shootings and uses of force.
“If they’re going on anything that is broadcast from Aurora 911 that would result or appear to come toward a conclusion of a use of force, they aren’t just having (the 40mm launcher) in their trunk, they’re actually deploying with it,” Shaker said.
Officers receive about 137 hours of de-escalation training across 18 courses while at recruit academy, as well as additional in-service training after becoming an officer, according to the police department’s presentation.
Shaker said de-escalation training is immersive and can involve paid actors role-playing potential scenarios.
While presenting to the public safety committee, Chamberlain and Shaker said that officers are trained to de-escalate as much as possible, but added that de-escalation isn’t always an option.
“It is a two way street, it is not just officers,” Shaker said. “The officers are addressing what the suspects are presenting, and that is something that sometimes gets quite easily and frequently lost in discussions related to use of force.”
After the April 9 shooting, Chamberlain said 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 particular, “suicidal ideation.”
“We made sure that our officers didn’t haphazardly force this incident to occur. We did everything but force this,” Chamberlain said. “We actually stayed back, stayed in control and in containment, and we were working through the process of communication and de-escalation … The reason this contact occurred was because that suspect made a very conscious decision to make contact with our officers.”
Aurora police were criticized last year by outside experts and some police personnel who told Sentinel reporters 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.
> he charged at police and stabbed an officer multiple times in the head
Yeah, this is why cops shoot dangerous, violent criminals. Love how this was buried deep behind some non-sense about a mental health crisis and de-escalation. I guess the expectation is that cops have to be killed before shooting someone. I’m no “blue lives matter” supporter, but there is also something called common sense.
Another black man refuses to comply, resists arrest, attacks an officer, and dies. Knock me over with a feather.
I’m constantly asking at council meetings with the public, how is deescalation training coming? Deescalation is a major issue all over the country! It seems to me that they perforned deescalation well in this case. It’s time to acknowledge that each police shooting is not the officer’s fault. Heck, he’s healing up from stab wounds. I’m a solid democrat, but I would have shot him too! Too much is too much! This had nothing to do with his race, he was mentally ill!
The department did all it could. Everyone thinks that social workers these situations. The officer should have been trained to stare trhe answer when violent mentally ill peope go on a rampage. But this is another example that social workers are ill prepared to handle these situations. In all the training we know that a vioent person with a knife can run up and slice a police officers throat before they can get off a tzer or gun shot. Why does the news reporters start their reporting with the violent man being shot instead of the violent man charging the social workers and police and actually injures the officer firsr? It does not fit the narrative that officers and their new social workers face enormous danger when they respond to protect the community.
Many of us die from an illness. He sadly died from a mental illness.
Hope that our officer is recovering well.
(Inside our house we have a 9mm de-escalator.)
Although I am sure they did what they could once the suspect charged, it again comes down to poor training and tactics. The Chief’s statement about them staying back and containing doesn’t quite go with proper deescalation. The idea is to avoid a sudden encounter with little time to react. That means obstacles and distance. Back in the dark ages when I was with SWAT, we would immediately tie off the door so the suspect would not suddenly rush out. Shootings very often happen due to sudden encounters that force a shooting. Yes, we wanted the suspect to come out. We did not want there to be a sudden deadly confrontation. All things fail. You have to plan on your less lethal tools failing. I personally made sure that each district had a van full of equipment that could be at the scene sooner than SWAT. I also made a wire fence barrier that could be placed in front of the door or could be used for entry to keep the guy with a knife away from us. We could place the barrier in front of the door and pick the lock or force the door open and talk without fear of being stabbed. We did not have to fear a sudden rush that would force us to shoot the suspect. I got a three day suspension for yelling at the chief to get the barrier made. I seriously doubt that the vans and the barrier exist now. Its appears that the training and equipment have slipped since we developed ways to handle these things. Luckily for the Chief, you don’t know that they don’t seem to have learned much about use of force. Luckily, there will be no one to question why they don’t know better and why they keep killing. Their committees don’t know enough to ask the right questions. Like most government, they will continue to rely upon your ignorance.
What a shotty article, McKenna. Let’s hope that you aren’t being forced by Dave to write biased, one-sided garbage, that fit his blogs narrative. I know you’re brand new, and the Sentinel has typically been a rag, but maybe you can change that with balanced, research-based reporting, and not spewing clearly trash that is obviously anti-police.
Shouldn’t your leading paragraph mention that an officer and K9 were both stabbed? And that the officer remains hospitalized to this day? And not buried four paragraphs down?
What about the failures on the mental health systems in our community/state? Or the fact they spent 20+ minutes trying to speak to this man first?
Don’t let us down, McKenna. Your first article was definitely influenced by Dave, maybe you can show him how a “real reporter” does things!