The Denver Police Department on Wednesday released body camera footage from two separate incidents that led to the deaths of two people.
In the first instance, police officers shot a man with an AK-47. In the second incident, police said a man died while handcuffed on the ground following an encounter with security guards.
In the first case, an officer was involved in a shooting at Commons Park around 4 p.m. on Nov. 20, when witnesses reported that a man — later identified as 42-year-old Joshua Mitchell — chased bystanders around and yelled at them. Mitchell was holding an AK-47 rifle, which is banned in Denver.
Police officers who responded to the call found the suspect sitting on a bench. The two officers pointed their rifles at the man, ordering him to drop his weapon.
Mitchell allegedly aimed his rifle at one officer and began firing, hitting the police vehicle and a few windows of a building behind the park, Denver Police Lt. Matt Clark said at a press conference.
Two officers fired seven shots at the suspect from over 130 feet away, hitting Mitchell multiple times.
Paramedics arrived and confirmed that he died.
Mitchell was wearing a tactical vest with no ballistic plate and eight magazines, Clark said. He also had four other magazines, totaling in 400 rounds. The magazines exceeded Denver’s legal capacity limit.
A preliminary investigation did not reveal that Mitchell had planned an attack, according to Clark, though detectives are still looking into Mitchell’s computer, social media and phones. Clark also said that Mitchell was not pointing the rifle at bystanders in the park.
Investigators found that Mitchell had arrived at a residence he usually stayed at earlier that afternoon. The resident of the home told police that Mitchell seemed intoxicated and they told him to leave the property.
Mitchell was then allegedly part of a hit-and-run crash in the 3100 block of west 37th Avenue around 3 p.m. He left the disabled vehicle in the street around 33rd and Clay streets and walked with the rifle under a blanket to the park.
Another 50 rounds of ammunition was found in his vehicle.
Both officers involved in the shooting are on “modified duty” until the investigations are completed, the police said.
“It’s certainly concerning that he had the rifle ammunition,” Clark said. “We’ve searched the vehicle. We’ve searched the residence that he was at. There’s nothing indicating that there was a larger plan associated with this. There is still work being done.”
“I just want to acknowledge the fact that anytime a life is lost, it’s certainly a tragedy,” Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said, adding the evidence suggests that if officers had not “taken the actions that they took, there could have been a greater tragedy.”
Thomas and Clark also presented details about a death that occurred around 12 a.m. on Nov. 15 in the 900 block of west 14th Street.
The man — later identified as 36-year-old James Hutchinson — called the police before midnight, “rambling and yelling” at the dispatcher, according to Clark. He claimed he was having a heart attack. The call eventually dropped.
Police then received a call from a security guard at King Soopers at 14th Avenue and Speer Boulevard two minutes later, reporting that Hutchinson had entered the store and said someone was chasing him and attempting to rob him.
Paramedics arrived at the scene and attempted to help Hutchinson. Clark said he was agitated and non-compliant. He eventually ran away from the ambulance and threw a rock through the window of a nearby building.
Officers arrived and ordered Hutchinson to put his hands in the air. The man ran away. The officer did not pursue him.
The police received another call minutes later from a security guard at an apartment building at 901 14th Ave. Hutchinson had allegedly broken a window at the building and was trying to enter. Two security guards stopped him.
Officers arrived and found Hutchinson being held on the ground by two security guards. One security guard claimed to have punched the man after he was biting him, according to Clark.
Responding officers cuffed Hutchinson and put him on his side in the recovery position as they searched for weapons. Hutchinson did not respond to the officers’ questions, as seen in the bodycam footage.
One officer later checked his pulse after moments of being unresponsive. He said there wasn’t one and all three officers initiated life-saving procedures. One officer administered a dose of naloxone, though it seemed to have no effect.
Hutchinson was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased.
The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The incident will be investigated by multiple agencies, including the Colorado Bureau of Investigations and the Colorado State Patrol, according to Clark.