AURORA, Colo. — The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office distributed two letters Friday afternoon that clear the two Aurora officers who were involved in two separate October shootings of any wrongdoing.
The two shootings were 10 days apart. The first happened on Oct. 10, 2019 and the second happened on Oct. 20, 2019. The suspects who were shot in both cases have survived and now face criminal charges.
The first incident involved Officer Alexander Ord, who the DA’s Office said shot a man holding an unloaded gun through the window of a home off South Bahama Street.
That suspect, Andrew Huff, had asked through his attorney for the charges against him to be dropped, saying the officers did not announce themselves as police.
According to the decision letter, Ord and another office had come to a house occupied by Huff to help his former roommate pick up some of his possessions.
“As they approached the home, they saw a male standing out front,” the letter reads. “The male walked quickly into the home without acknowledging the officers. The officers then approached the front door, they then saw the same male standing in a large picture window ‘darting’ in and out of view.
“The male then reappeared with a rifle in his hands. Officer Ord was afraid the male was going to shoot him and the other officers with him, so he yelled, ‘Put your hands up, put your hands up!’"
The letter says Ord fired five shots, hitting Huff. Huff survived, and is charged with assault and felony menacing. The DA said Ord was justified in shooting Huff because he was holding a weapon and could have been a threat to officers.
This was a similar rationale to what the DA said justified the Oct. 20 shooting, when Officer Joseph Carns shot Oscar Lucio-Vazquez near the 9000 block of East 14th Avenue in Aurora.
According to the letter, Carns came to the area after receiving a report of a disturbance. While he was there, two women ran toward them – and one said, “He’s got a gun.”
“Officer Carns then saw an individual, later identified as Mr. Oscar Lucio Vazquez, crawling out of a broken garden-level window,” the letter reads. “Officer Carns could see Mr. Lucio Vazquez holding an assault-style rifle with a chrome barrel.
“Officer Carns yelled, ‘Drop the gun! Drop the gun!”
According to the letter, Carns was afraid Lucio-Vazquez had “squared up” on him, prompting the officer to open fire. Lucio-Vazquez fell backwards into the home, according to the release.
The man who owned the apartment said the AR-15 was his, and that Lucio-Vazquez had picked it up after apparently breaking the window. It was unloaded at the time.
Lucio-Vazquez was seriously injured but survived. He has been charged with one count of felony menacing.
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