Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz told gathered media at a press briefing on Tuesday the fight that left a man dead and two of his officers hospitalized was one of the most violent he's ever seen. It went on for at least seven minutes before help arrived.
"I've been in this job for 35 years. I've seen a lot of stuff," Metz said. "This was one of the most violent altercations I've seen in my career."
A trio of officers arrived at a home on the 10600 block of East Jewell Avenue in Aurora Monday night to find a man in an apartment violently choking another man, Metz said. People were screaming as the officers approached.
The officers - two women and a man - demanded the unidentified man stop attacking the other, but were ignored, Metz said. While inside, one officer activated their stun gun, but the man was unfazed. Immediately after, Metz said the man charged his officers, tackling two of them to the ground.
A fight ensued. Metz said the altercation between the four eventually went outside the home and lasted at least seven minutes. Metz said the officers used their batons and stun guns on the man several times during the fight to no avail. The man was not fazed by anything, Metz added.
More officers showed up minutes into the fight and were eventually able to subdue the man, get him to the ground and put cuffs on him. During the struggled to take him into custody, the man became unresponsive, Metz said. Officers on scene noticed and immediately started life-saving procedures.
The man was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. All three officers were hurt and two had to be hospitalized. Metz said he visited them Monday night and was thankful their injuries weren't more severe.
Watch the full press conference streamed on the 9NEWS YouTube page:
The investigation is still in its early stages...
Despite the situation not being an officer-involved shooting strictly defined by Colorado law, the 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler said Metz asked the incident be treated the same way.
All three officers were wearing body worn camera footage and both Metz and Brauchler said they reviewed the footage. Both commented on how it was unlike anything they'd seen in their decades on the job.
Brauchler said his office became involved in the incident Monday night when Metz called him asking for an investigation. Brauchler commended the police chief, pointing out that there was no law that required Metz to open any kind of investigation.
"Nonetheless, the chief said in the name of transparency and responsibility to the community - he picked up the phone and asked us to treat this like an officer-involved shooting," Brauchler explained.
Brauchler and Metz apologized for the dearth of information but emphasized that there still a lot of questions they had internally that needed to be answered before more information could be released to the public. Investigators are waiting on the coroner's report, the toxicology report and interviews with the many witnesses from the night.
According to Brauchler, Metz wanted to release the body camera footage, but he asked the chief to wait until they had at least more information in the case.
The District Attorney stressed he'd never seen anything like the body camera footage provided by the officers.
"It's important to understand what was driving this person to make these decisions and be able to respond like they were," Brauchler told gathered media. "I saw a lot of taser deployment that seemed to have no impact whatsoever."
The Denver Police Department is investigating the actions of the officers and the man. The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office is also looking into the incident.
The Aurora Police Department has no obligation to provide body camera footage to the public, according to their own rules and procedures.
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The suspect had "almost no recognition of any pain he was receiving"
"Just an individual that was feeling no pain upon officer's attempting to gain compliance and control," Metz said of the man who fought the officers.
The man was 5-foot-9, 230 pounds and very muscular, Metz said. At one point during the fight, the suspect had the male officer by his neck, choking him. Metz said he thought there was a moment when officers could have used deadly force but they never did.
Over and over, according to Metz, the trio of officers did everything they could to get the man to comply by nonlethal means.
Throughout the fight with the man, while officers were hitting him with their hands, their batons and their stun guns, they were constantly yelling at the man to comply, Metz said. He ignored them - their weapons and their commands - and continued fighting them.
At one point during the fight, the man grabbed an officer's baton and a tug-of-war of sorts began between the pair. Metz said several orders to let go of the baton were issued, but he ignored them. Stun guns and batons were also used to try and get the man to let go, to no avail. Eventually, the man started choking the officer. More stun guns and batons were used without much effect, Metz said.
Eventually, during the fight, one of the officers was able to call for help. Other APD officers rushed to the scene but were minutes away, according to Metz. While they made their way to the home, the fight between the officers and the man continued.
The whole time the fight is going on, community and family members were shouting at the man to calm down and stop resisting. He ignored them, Metz said.
There were also a couple times when there was a lull in the fight and the man would stop, only to start back up again a few moments later, the chief said.
When other officers started to arrive, they were finally able to get the man onto the ground, Metz said. He was still resisting all the while, and officers were trying to get him handcuffed when they noticed he had become unresponsive. Officers quickly initiated CPR and other life-saving efforts, including calling nearby Aurora Fire Rescue to the scene who took over life-saving efforts. The man was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The man's identity and cause of death will be released by the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office. The only identifying information provided by APD besides his height and weight was that he was an African-American man in his 30s.
More information is expected in this case. 9NEWS will continue to follow the story and provide updates.
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