Denver police shot and killed a man who pointed a gun at them when they responded to reports of someone firing a pistol as he walked along a residential street early today.
It remains unclear whether the man fired on police. He has not been identified.
Police were dispatched to the 3400 block of West Louisiana Avenue after numerous people reported shots fired. Witnesses said the man was firing a handgun as he walked, police said in a release.
“All we know for sure is that the reports came to the communications center of a Hispanic male dressed in dark clothing shooting a pistol on the street,” said Denver police spokesman Joe J. Ramirez. “On arrival they encountered the suspect.”
Officers ordered the man to put down the weapon, but he refused, instead pointing the pistol at them, Rameriz said. “One of the officers discharged his weapon on the suspect.”
Police taped off several blocks along West Louisiana and early Sunday morning searched for evidence, neighbors said. By 9:15 a.m. the tape was down, but Ramirez said an investigation is still underway.
Neighbors were trying to piece together the events surrounding the shooting from memory and news reports.
Shirley Vallejos, 64, who lives a block from the scene, said she heard police cars racing down the street at about midnight. “It is a good thing I didn’t sleep out here, she said, nodding toward a couch in her living room. “They would have shot me in the head.”
There was no indication from police Sunday morning that gunshots hit any homes.
Another woman who asked not to be identified said she too heard the cars. Her son, who was visiting with his girlfriend, their child and a second child, yelled a warning.
“My son said, mom get the kids on the floor,” she said. She ran from her room, grabbed the children and crouched with them on the floor.
“I don’t even know what the heck was going on,” she said.
Monica Calderon, 30, whose daughter translated for an interview, lives between Knox Court and Lowell Boulevard. Calderon said she heard one gunshot. “She heard it in the night when she was giving the baby some milk,” said her eight year-old daughter.
The man was taken to Denver Health Medical Center and pronounced dead. Identification will be made by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.
Tom McGhee: (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
