No charges will be filed against a police officer who shot and killed a man as he appeared to be turning to fire a gun at the officer during a foot chase, the Denver district attorney announced.
Police officer Michael Wyatt was justified on May 25 when he fired one bullet at robbery suspect Harrison Owens, 31, District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said in a letter Friday to Police Chief Gerry Whitman.
Wyatt and officer Michael Miller were in their patrol car near East Colfax Avenue and Logan Street at about 1:30 a.m. May 25 when Isstaka Namoko, who was bleeding, ran up to them waving his arms.
Namoko told the officers that he had been robbed and beaten, and pointed toward two men. He told the officers that a man wearing a white shirt was armed with a gun, Morrissey’s letter said.
The officers ordered the two men to stop, but they started running, the letter said. Wyatt chased Owens, who was holding a gun near his waist.
They were about 15 feet apart when Owens swung his right hand, which was holding the gun, around toward Wyatt, the letter said.
“I thought for sure he was going to shoot me,” Wyatt told investigators, according to the letter.
Wyatt quickly raised his gun and fired a single shot.
No one other than Wyatt saw the shooting, Morrissey’s letter says. Authorities found a gun near Owens’ body.
Owens, whose criminal record includes multiple convictions for theft and drug dealing, had three children and a landscaping business, according to family members.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
