An officer who shot a man who charged him with an object that turned out to be a cross was justified in firing his gun, the Denver district attorney’s office has determined.
Prosecutors decided not to file criminal charges against Officer Gregory Ceccacci, who shot Samson Ferde during a domestic-violence call at 4 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2008.
Police responding to the call in the 5100 block of North Fontana Court were told the man was threatening to kill his sister and her family.
Ceccacci and another officer were confronted by Ferde, who was covered with blood after stabbing himself with a knife.
Ferde had lost his job as a cab driver five months earlier and had rarely gone out of his brother’s home since then, according to a police report.
He had gone to a religious meeting at the Pepsi Center, where a preacher picked him out of the crowd and said God had a plan for him. Relatives told detectives his mental health had declined since then. He said he could see things others couldn’t.
He called his sister on the night of the confrontation with police and told her he was coming to save them. He had cut himself and was covered in blood.
When they saw him, officers ordered Ferde to kneel. He did so, but then got up, turned around and ran at officers with an object in his hand, according to the police statement.
Ferde was within 11 feet of Ceccacci when the officer began firing at Ferde. He fired three shots.
“The attack occurred in an instant, forcing Officer Ceccacci to make a split-second decision to defend himself,” said a letter from District Attorney Mitch Morrissey’s office to Police Chief Gerry Whitman.
Less-lethal weapons were not available under the circumstances, the letter says.
The object in Ferde’s hand turned out to be a 3-by-5-inch cross.
In Ferde’s truck, investigators found the 12-inch blood-stained knife that he presumably had cut himself with earlier.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
