Denver police officers fatally shot an armed 52-year-old in a Five Points intersection last week after Tasers failed to stop the person from approaching police while holding a 7-inch knife, according to department officials and body-worn camera footage released Tuesday.
Officials with the Denver Police Department initially reported that the person killed by officers on June 16 was a woman. The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner this week identified the person as Miguel Tapia.
Denver police Chief Ron Thomas on Tuesday said Tapia was transgender and believed to be homeless. He said department officials have not been able to find Tapia’s family members to notify them of their death. Tapia was identified through fingerprints.
“I do want to acknowledge the tragedy of the death and also our significant regret at the fact that, despite significant efforts to try to identify next of kin, we’ve not been able to make a family notification as we would have liked,” Thomas said during a news briefing.
Denver police officers responded to the intersection of Broadway and Lawrence Street just before noon on June 16 after three people called 911 to report someone was standing in the intersection holding a knife, Cmdr. Matt Clark said Tuesday.
One caller reported the person, later identified as Tapia, was telling passing cars to kill them.
Two Denver police officers responded to the area, blocked off the intersection and approached Tapia, asking them in English and Spanish to put their hands up.
When Tapia removed a knife from a bag they were carrying, one officer fired a Taser, which appeared to briefly stop Tapia before they continued walking toward the officer.
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Two officers each fired another Taser round, which did not work, and Tapia continued to walk toward an officer while pointing a large knife, Clark said. Officers then began shooting Tapia, who fell to the ground.
Tapia was handcuffed and given emergency aid, but died at the scene, according to the department.
Two officers and one sergeant fired 12 rounds during the encounter, Clark said. All are on modified duty as they go through the department’s reintegration program.
Denver police officials are still trying to find Tapia’s next of kin, Thomas said.
The shooting is being investigated by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado State Patrol, Denver District Attorney’s Office and DPD’s homicide unit.
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