A man who was shot by two law enforcement officers at a Denver gas station earlier this month after police say he stole a truck was holding a lighter that looked like a handgun.
A Colorado State Patrol trooper and an Adams County sheriff deputy together fired 13 rounds at Joshua Jackson, 35, striking him multiple times, according to Matt Clark, a commander with the Denver Police Department’s Major Crimes Division.
Clark spoke to reporters at a press conference on Thursday regarding the June 2 incident at a Sinclair gas station and convenience store in the 600 block of Santa Fe Drive in Denver. Footage of the shooting from two officers’ body-worn cameras were also released.
Clark said officers from the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force had been tracking Jackson after it was reported that a Ford F-350 construction truck, which had been left running and unoccupied in the area of Colfax Avenue and Peoria Street in Aurora, had been stolen.
The truck had a GPS tracker and a camera in the cab.
“These images (from the camera) captured the driver operating the vehicle while holding what appeared to be a firearm in his right hand,” Clark said.
Law enforcement followed the truck to the Sinclair convenience store in Denver and waited for the driver to exit the truck, Clark said, so as not to trigger a vehicle pursuit. He was told to show his hands by officers who were in plain clothes but also wearing “tactical vests with law enforcement insignia visible.”
“The subject did not comply and instead went quickly into the convenience store,” Clark said. “The subject produced what appeared to be a handgun and moved around within the store.”
One of the officers outside the store told investigators the subject raised what appeared to be a gun at him, posing an “imminent threat,” Clark said. That’s when the officer “discharged multiple rounds from their duty handgun,” he said.
Body-worn camera footage released Thursday , with Jackson running into the station as officers order him to show his hands. One officer at the scene yells that Jackson has a gun, at which point officers order him five times to drop it.
One officer then yells twice that “he’s got it in his hand.” At that point, an officer begins firing multiple rounds through the glass door of the convenience store. There were two employees inside the store, but no customers, Clark said. Neither employee was injured, he said.
It is difficult to tell from watching the body-worn camera footage what is happening inside the store because of a reflection cast by the windows and glass door of the Sinclair. But a person in light colored clothes can be seen moving around on the floor, darting in different directions.
Officers again tell him not to move and then one officer yells: “He’s going for the gun again.”
More shots follow.
An officer then yells that the suspect has dropped the gun and officers, many in uniform, enter the store and arrest him. Jackson was taken to Denver Health, Clark said, where he remains today. No update was provided on his condition.
Jackson was charged with auto theft and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
At the press conference, Clark . It looked indistinguishable from a real firearm.
“That object was determined to be a lighter designed to look like a handgun,” Clark said.
But the lighter was incapable of firing any projectiles, he said. When a reporter asked about its size, Clark said it would qualify as a “smaller” handgun but one that “could be held in a pistol grip” that would “occupy the size of your hand.”
The Adams County Sheriff deputy who fired at the suspect has been with the agency since 2012, Clark said. The Colorado State Patrol trooper has been employed there since 2018.
Both are on paid administrative leave as the investigation into the shooting proceeds.
