Three Denver police officers will not face criminal charges for the shooting death of a man who was armed with a gun.
Cpls. Robert Krelle and Anthony Gutierrez-McKain, and Officer Dennis Liss shot Mac McPherson the night of Sept. 15, 2020, when they responded to a 911 call about a man armed with a gun, according to a decision letter on the shooting from District Attorney Beth McCann to Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen.
The trio responded to the 2400 block of South Colorado Boulevard where they encountered McPherson. The 911 call described McPherson as armed with a gun and that he “appeared drunk.” The description was passed on to the responding officers, the release said.
Krelle and Liss gave McPherson commands to “get on the ground” and “put your hands up,” but McPherson didn’t comply. Instead, “he reached in his right front pocket and pulled out a black handgun,” the letter said.
All three officers fired a total of 13 shots. Krelle and Liss fire six rounds each and Gutierrez-McKain fired one round, according to the letter. The shots were fired about 60 seconds after the officers arrived on scene.
Krelle and Gutierrez-McKain joined the department in 2013. Liss joined the department in March and was in training with Krelle when the shooting occurred.
McPherson was hit multiple times in the torso. He was taken Denver Health Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. McPherson had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.259 g/ml, according to autopsy toxicology results. He also had cannabinoids in his blood.
“While I have little insight into Mr. McPherson’s state of mind other than he appeared depressed, the facts show that these officers were quickly presented with an armed, drunk, and uncooperative person who was reaching for a gun,” McCann said in a news release. “While a different outcome might have occurred, to ask these officers to wait and see what happened after Mr. McPherson pulled his gun is unreasonable. Under these circumstances, I determine that the use of deadly force was lawfully justified.”
In the decision letter, McCann said the officers “faced a dangerous situation almost immediately upon contact with Mr. McPherson.”
“The degree of force, while lethal, was used in a manner consistent with the minimization of injury to others,” the letter said.
