The man Denver police shot and killed Friday fired shots at random people near a southwest Denver playground and at officers pursuing him, police officials said Monday.
Denver police Lt. Matt Clark described a chaotic series of events over the course of 15 minutes, during which a man fired several bullets at two women near a southwest Denver playground, which led to a high-speed police pursuit through nearby neighborhood.
The man fired a gun at least five times at strangers and police in less than 15 minutes, Clark said.
Nine Denver police officer fired multiple rounds at the man after he shot at them, Clark said at a news conference Monday. Clark identified the man killed by police as Cedrick Vick, 22.
“You have an individual randomly shooting at people and taking this vehicle and shooting at officers that needed to be stopped,” Clark said.
Five people called 911 at 4:15 p.m. Friday to report a man acting erratically and waving a gun in the 4400 block of Morrison Road in the Westwood neighborhood. One caller reported shots fired.
Responding officers found a woman who said a man had stolen her car at gunpoint, Clark said. A toddler was sitting in the back seat and the woman was able to take the child from the vehicle before the man took the car. The woman told police that the man fired his gun toward her, Clark said.
Police later learned the man minutes earlier had fired bullets at another woman he didn’t know prior to the carjacking, though Clark couldn’t give more details on the incident Monday.
Officers pursued the stolen car and the driver fired at least one bullet at the pursuing officers, Clark said. The chase lasted for about 4.5 minutes and reached speeds of 60 mph through southwest Denver neighborhoods.
During the chase, the suspect crashed the stolen car into another vehicle but the occupants were not injured.
The suspect lost control of the vehicle around a turn at West First Avenue and Perry Street and crashed into a wall, Clark said.
“The subject immediately opened the driver door of the vehicle and began acting erratically,” Clark said. “He was kicking his legs out of the vehicle, waving his arms. He was in and out of the car and reaching around.”
Officers tried to communicate with the man for a minute, Clark said. At 4:26 p.m., the man raised a handgun, pointed it at officers and fired two rounds, Clark said.
Nine officers opened fire at the man and each officer fired multiple rounds, Clark said, though he would not say how many bullets each officer fired. The officers killed Vick and other bullets from the officers’ guns lodged in the stolen car and in a small hill behind Vick.
Police found a semi-automatic handgun in the car and two bullet marks behind officers. One bullet struck a residence and the other hit a vehicle, but nobody was injured.
All nine officer who shot at Vick remained on administrative leave while homicide detectives from the Aurora Police Department and the Denver Police Department as well as the Denver District Attorney’s Office investigate the incident.
The shooting on Friday is the second shooting by Denver police this year.
