ENGLEWOOD — Police fatally shot a man Thursday night in the parking lot of a Walgreens in the 3000 block of South Broadway near Dartmouth Avenue.
Investigator Brad Johnson, police spokesman, said the wounded man was taken to Swedish Medical Center in critical condition. A little before 8:30 p.m., police announced that the man had died.
Johnson said the incident began about 4:30 p.m. when officers spotted a stolen car in the drugstore parking lot. The occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody.
Shortly afterward, a white Ford Mustang convertible drove into the lot.
Police say the driver of the Mustang and the occupants of the stolen car know one another but did not specify the exact relationship.
Police saw that the driver had a weapon in his waistband and appeared to be reaching for it, Johnson said. The driver ignored orders and the vehicle was backing up erratically, according to police. Feeling threatened, an officer opened fire.
Johnson said police did find a gun in the car.
A witness, who wanted to remain unidentified, said he was buying a hamburger at the Hamburger Stand across the street when he heard two officers yelling at a white convertible Mustang in the Walgreens parking lot.
The Ford was trying to back up, and the officers, one on each side of the vehicle, were ordering it to stop, the witness said.
The driver ignored the orders, and the officer on the passenger side opened fire. The witness said he heard six shots.
Johnson said the officer who fired the shots has been placed on paid leave, which is standard procedure while the 18th Judicial District attorney’s office investigates the case.
