Lakewood police kill armed man near Belmar
For the third time since Thanksgiving, police officers in the metro Denver area have shot armed men who they said threatened them, killing two.
The Lakewood Police Department early on Monday sent an alert that West Alaska Drive was closed between South Wadsworth Boulevard and South Vance Street as officers investigated a shooting.
During a news conference, a Lakewood police spokesperson said a man had died from gunshot wounds and that no police officers were injured.
“We were called about 3:30 a.m. this morning about a man possibly trespassing here behind Best Buy,” the police spokesperson said. “Shortly after the police arrived, the man displayed a gun, pointed a gun at them, and then the police fired.”
The man, described only as a White male, was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He was not named, pending notification of his next of kin. The two officers were placed on administrative leave, pending an internal investigation and that of the Critical Incident Response Team by the District Attorney’s office.
Meanwhile, on Saturday afternoon, Adams County sheriffs shot a man they said approached them with an axe after a “check the welfare” call at a home in the 7600 block of Heather Place. The man was shot and injured, taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead on Sunday morning.
On Thanksgiving night, Aurora police officers initially responded to an apartment complex in the 900 block of South Dawson Way — near the City Center neighborhood — around 9:30 p.m. after multiple callers reported hearing gunshots in the parking lot, according to a press release from the Aurora Police Department.
Officers encountered an armed man and gave multiple commands to drop the gun, but the man instead fired numerous rounds at them, the police said. Six officers returned fire and eventually struck the man. No officers were injured during the exchange and the suspect was taken to the hospital. He suffered from gunshot wounds but was expected to survive.