LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Two Lakewood police officers who shot and injured a man accused of threatening them with a knife in April will not be charged after a review by the District Attorney's office found that shooting justified.
The suspect, identified as Alfredo Vallejos, 47, was shouting at police to shoot him during the encounter, the report says.
Lakewood police were called to the area of 4th Avenue and Harlan Street on April 29 around 3:30 p.m. because there were reports of someone threatening cars and people with a large knife. According to the District Attorney report, one of the people who called 911 said there were children in the area.
When police arrived on scene, the report says they saw Vallejos carrying a 6-inch to 8-inch butcher knife. Officers demanded he drop the knife.
Instead, the report says Vallejos ran through someone's backyard and toward Sheridan Boulevard.
Officer chased him, deploying Tasers four times, according to the report. The report says the Tasers had no effect on Vallejos.
Lakewood police officers Tracey Lee and Joshua Guerra eventually caught up with Vallejos near 3rd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard at which point the report says Vallejos turned toward Lee and took two steps toward him while yelling "shoot me!"
"Once he pointed the blade towards Lee and took those hard steps towards him, I thought he was going to stab Agent Lee," Guerra is quoted as saying in the report.
Both Lee and Guerra fired their weapons at Vallejos "practically simultaneously," according to the report.
Vallejos was shot six times: three times in the abdomen, ones in the wrist, once in the upper back/shoulder and once in the thigh. He survived those injuries.
During an interview in the hospital, the report says Vallejos told police he was sober at the time and he had "hoped the police would kill him."
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in her decision letter that the shooting was justified because the officers "had reasonable grounds to believe, and did believe, Agent Lee was in imminent danger of being killed or of receiving great bodily injury."
After being treated at the hospital, Vallejos was booked into the Jefferson County jail. He has been charged with assault to a peace officer, felony menacing, disorderly conduct and disobeying a police officer.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Local stories from 9NEWS
