AURORA | A man convicted of shooting an Aurora police officer in the leg is set for sentencing Tuesday morning in Adams County District Court.
Jahvell Forrest, 21, was convicted in February of attempted manslaughter and other charges stemming from the 2014 shooting of Aurora Officer Ryan Burns.
Burns, who was wounded in the leg, missed more than a year of work while recovering. Police credited his partner, Officer Dale Leonard, with saving his life by quickly applying a tourniquet to the wounded officer’s leg.
Forrest’s conviction on lesser charges incensed the Aurora police officers’ union, which called it a “miscarriage of justice.”
Several representatives of the police union are expected to attend the sentencing hearing.
Aurora police spokesman Sgt. Chris Amsler said Chief Nick Metz is expected to attend and Burns will likely read a prepared statement to the judge.
According to court testimony, Forrest shot Burns in November 2014 after the officers tried to pull him over while he was driving a stolen car. In addition to the stolen car, Forrest had a gun and several warrants out for his arrest.