The Denver district attorney cleared four Denver Police Department officers involved in the shooting of a man they believed armed with a handgun, ruling their use of deadly force justified.

All of the officers fired their weapons, shooting and killing 57-year-old Jose Medina behind Annunciation Catholic School in the 3500 block of Lafayette Street just before 6:30 p.m. on March 20, according to a news release from the Denver District Attorney’s Office. They later discovered he was armed only with an airsoft pistol.

“After a thorough review of the evidence in the case, I believe that the use of force by all of the officers was justified based on Colorado law regarding use of force in self-defense and in defense of others,” said Denver District Attorney John Walsh, via the release. “Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed against any of the officers involved.”

Five officers — Cpl. Ambrose Slaughter, Officer David Arnold, Officer John Wickiser, Officer Isabelle Jeffris and Officer Michael Cao — were involved in the incident, according to the decision letter Walsh wrote to Denver Police Department Chief Ron Thomas. Slaughter was the only officer not to fire their gun in the shooting.

Officers first responded to a 911 call about the incident regarding a man with a gun and a knife in the alleyway behind the school, according to the release. There, they found Medina lying on top of a metal grate, holding what appeared to be a gun. Officers repeatedly told him to drop it, to which he refused.

After about a minute of officers trying to de-escalate the situation, to no avail, Medina said “you’re fired” to the officers, raising his gun and pointing the muzzle at two of them, according to the release. At that moment, four officers fired their weapons, hitting Medina several times. He later died from his injuries after being transported to Denver Health Medical Center.

Medina’s handgun was later determined to be an airsoft pistol designed to replicate a Smith and Wesson handgun.

Because Medina had handled the gun as if it were real, not only in the way he was holding it but also in the manner that he threatened the officers with it, they had no way of knowing it was fake and were therefore justified in their assessments that Medina was trying to kill them, Walsh wrote in the letter to Thomas. 

“I believe this shooting would not have occurred if the officers did not believe Medina’s gun was deadly and if they did not believe Medina was intending to fire at the officers in that final moment when he swung the gun,” Walsh said.