Updated at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023:
The Aurora police department now says an armed man killed by an officer early Wednesday was trying to stop a man from taking his backpack at a bus stop.
Police say Dominique Harris, 32, tried to snatch the man's backpack and run when the man pointed a gun at Harris. Harris was later cited for misdemeanor theft.
The officer and his partner, who did not fire his weapon, are both on paid leave as authorities investigate what happened. They were monitoring a nearby security camera while on patrol around 2:30 a.m. when they saw two men at a bus stop struggling over a backpack.
According to police, as the officers approached the struggle, they radioed in that one of the men had a gun. A few seconds later, they reported shots fired. Police say the 21-year-old man who was shot later died at a hospital.
Aurora Interim-Police Chief Art Acevedo said during a press conference hours after the shooting Wednesday that the officer shot the man as he fled.
“The officer started yelling some commands to the individual to stop, to put his hands up, and at one point there’s a discharge,” Acevedo said when he briefed the media shortly after the shooting.
On Friday, the department announced the man who was shot was trying to fend off Harris when the officers arrived. It’s not clear he ever pointed the gun at police.
Acevedo said the entire encounter was captured by multiple security and body-worn cameras, but he hasn’t said whether any of that footage will be released.
