DENVER — A man shot and killed by Denver Police officers this month had carjacked a vehicle that he drove to a 7-Eleven, where he held two employees hostage in a locked office, police said at a news conference Wednesday.
Four officers responded to several 911 calls about 6:10 p.m. March 1 at the convenience store, at West 5th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, said Denver Police Cmdr. Matt Clark.
The man was threatening two employees inside an office behind the sales counter. Officers yelled at the man to open the door. They could see through a small window in the door that the man was threatening one of the employees with a sharp implement, Clark said.
Officers used a metal ram to break into the office to find the man holding the implement to one of the employee's necks. The officers fired 36 rounds at the man in 5 seconds. Neither of the employees were hit, Clark said.
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Police identified the man at Christopher Couch. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced deceased. The weapon he used to threaten the employee was a hand tool with a 6-inch shaft that is used to pull out nails.
Clark said that earlier that evening, Couch carjacked a vehicle in Lakewood. Police officers initiated a chase but called it off due to Couch's reckless driving.
Couch drove to the 7-Eleven, left the vehicle running in the parking lot and entered the store with the sharp implement. He jumped the counter and forced an employee into an office. Another employee was working the office at the time, Clark said.
Several customers escaped the store and called 911.
The four officers who fired shots are on modified duty status pending the outcome of the investigation, police said.
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