The man shot by Denver police officers early Monday after pulling a “replica handgun” on them has been identified as Arturo Enriquez.
Enriquez, 36, died due to multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, which performed an autopsy on Enriquez.
Denver police spokesman John White said the incident began after Denver dispatchers received a call at 12:48 a.m. Monday from a caller in the 3100 block of West Louisiana Avenue alerting them to a man with a gun in the area.
White said officers contacted the caller and received the descriptions of two men, one of whom the witness said was armed with a handgun.
Within minutes, the officers located the two individuals near West Alabama Place and South Hooker Street.
There, said White, the officers gave repeated commands to the men. One obeyed the commands while the second individual – Enriquez – didn’t, said White.
At that point, Enriquez pulled what appeared to be a handgun. Two officer fired multiple times hitting the individual repeatedly, said White.
The handgun was recovered at the scene, but was found to be a replica handgun, not a working weapon, said White.
White, the police spokesman, said the two officers, whose names are not being released, have been placed on paid administrative leave.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has a 7-page rap sheet for Enriquez; it shows he has used 14 aliases during his criminal career.
He had multiple arrests for assault, shoplifting, and trespassing. He also had arrests for theft, possession of burglary tools, forgery and making false reports.
Enriquez appeared primarily before Denver and Adams County judges.
According to court records, he has convictions for theft, trespass, motor vehicle theft and driving while impaired.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
