"I don't think you ever get over it," Blake added," The seriousness or the pain of it never goes away or decreases. It's just the span of time that's involved that changes." Blake was talking with 9NEWS about the September 1992 shooting death of Stephen Gant. Gant, who had a criminal record, was running from police on a domestic violence charge. He hid in a darkened stairwell in a narrow corridor between two houses in Capitol Hill. When Officer Blake found Gant, Gant had his right hand behind his back. Witnesses who heard the altercation said Gant was pleading for his life... "Don't shoot. Don't shoot." But Officer Blake said Gant actually said "You won't shoot. You won't shoot. I will." Gun residue showed that Gant was lunging for Officer Blake's gun and was only 18 inches from the gun when Blake shot."What's your reaction when someone says to you, you killed someone?" we asked him.Blake pauses before he answers. "My reaction is one, yes I did. I'm fully aware of that and I would never deny it. The other is that I regret it every day.....every day."Blake told 9NEWS the hardest time after the shooting was the first two weeks. "I didn't read the newspaper, didn't listen to the radio, didn't watch TV and I went into very serious counseling."When it happened, he says "Your mind is processing information at ten times the rate a normal person would. The mind takes in information, processes it and if it has to deal with survival, it processes that." So Blake didn't hear what Stephen Gant said after he was shot and being attended to by other officers. "I didn't know until later," said Blake, "that he said, I'm sorry Officer. I'm sorry."
Denver Police officer speaks out about 1992 fatal shooting
DENVER - Denver Police officer Michael Blake says you never forget. "The last thing, the very last thing any police officer wants to do is to have to take the life of somebody or get in a shooting. It's not why you're here. It just sometimes happens."
