DENVER — The man who was shot by officers after he pointed a gun at them in LoDo early Sunday has been formally charged.
Six bystanders were also wounded when three officers fired a total of seven rounds at 21-year-old Jordan Waddy in the early morning hours of July 17. Denver Police (DPD) said they could not conclude specifically what caused the bystanders' injuries, but did acknowledge some victims had "through and through" injuries.
Prior to the shots being fired, DPD said, officers saw a physical altercation beginning between two men in front of the Larimer Beer Hall.
One of the men, later identified as Waddy, was the "aggressor" and struck another man, DPD Lt. Matt Clark said on Wednesday. That officer also reported that Waddy had a gun.
>Read DPD affidavit below.
When officers approached, he began to walk away, but when he saw more officers coming from the other direction, he turned and walked back onto the sidewalk.
Waddy then pointed a gun at two officers, who each fired at him, Clark said on Wednesday. One officer fired four rounds and the other fired twice, he said.
A third officer saw that Waddy had a gun pointed at fellow officers and fired a single shot in an effort to protect them, according to Clark. A total of seven rounds were fired.
DPD said the injuries to bystanders ranged from superficial cuts, to possible graze wounds, to serious arm, shoulder and leg injuries.
They include:
- Man with a serious arm injury
- Woman with a serious leg injury
- Woman with a serious arm and shoulder injury
- Woman with graze wound to her leg
- Man with graze wound to his foot
- Man with burn-type injury to his chest
Waddy did not fire his weapon, according to DPD. He was struck multiple times and taken to the hospital for treatment where he remains.
The Denver DA's office announced he was charged with:
- Three counts of possession of a weapon by a previous offender, a class 5 felony
- One count of third degree assault
Waddy was once charged with murder in Arapahoe County in 2017 but pleaded guilty to lesser charges, court records show.
A civil rights attorney representing Waddy released the following statement on the shooting:
“On July 17th, several Denver police officers shot and injured Jordan Waddy, a Black man, multiple times outside of a crowded bar in LoDo without reason to believe that he was a threat to the safety of the officers or others. In shooting Mr. Waddy, officers also shot and injured six bystanders. Mr. Waddy is demanding answers from the Denver Police Department regarding the extremely reckless actions of its police officers."
"We are thoroughly investigating the shooting and the events leading up to it. The community demands to know how the police could so quickly use lethal force by opening fire into a crowd of people to stop a mere bar fight. Mr. Waddy is now also facing criminal charges, none of which involve threatening officers or placing them in danger of imminent bodily injury."
"It’s an all-too familiar scenario tainted with bias, one for which Mr. Waddy and other bystanders could have been killed, and the City of Denver is already attempting to shift the blame. We will get answers for these communities, and we will hold those responsible for this dangerous and unreasonable act accountable.”
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