Denver will pay an $800,000 settlement to the estate of a man shot and killed by police in 2021 after they said they saw him move his hands toward a gun.
The Denver City Council approved a settlement agreement Monday resulting from the death of Duane Manzanares Jr., 30. He was visiting Denver for his 8-year-old son’s medical diagnosis when police shot him multiple times, according to a Denver Post article from 2021.
Police were called to the scene after hearing reports of a man firing into an empty vehicle near East Colfax Avenue and Ulster Street.
Using a description from witnesses, officers found Manzanares nearby and directed him to put his hands on his head but he refused, Denver police Lt. Matt Clark said in 2021. When they saw him reach toward his waistband, where officers could see a handgun, they fired 11 times.
Manzanes, who lived in Pueblo, was in Denver because his son had just been diagnosed with leukemia and they were visiting Children’s Hospital Colorado for treatment, his mother said in 2021.
No one was injured when Manzanares shot into the empty car.
In August 2021, the Denver District Attorney’s Office announced it wouldn’t charge any officers in the death, saying police had to make a split-second decision in the incident.
The civil case was filed in Denver District Court in June 2023.