LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A man police say was armed with a “large knife” was shot by Lakewood officers after refusing to comply with their commands to put the weapon down, police said.
The shooting occurred in Lakewood near W. 3rd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard around 3:30 p.m. Monday. No officers were injured. The man shot by police, whose name has not been released, was taken to a local hospital where his current condition is unknown.
Police said they were initially dispatched near W. 4th Avenue and N. Harlan Street on a report the man was threatening people and cars with the knife. As they were responding, they were redirected a couple of blocks east where officers spotted the suspect at W. 3rd Avenue and Depew Street. But police said the man ran from them, heading toward Sheridan Boulevard where the shooting occurred.
Police caught up with the man and ordered him to drop his knife, but he refused to comply, according to a release from Lakewood Police Department. The suspect was stunned with a Taser, but police say that didn’t stop the suspect. After failing to subdue the man, who police said was making aggressive moves toward them, officers fired their weapons.
The shooting occurred just across the Lakewood-Denver city line, into Denver’s jurisdiction. Denver police will handle the shooting investigation. Lakewood police will oversee the criminal investigation related to the incidents at 4th and Harlan and 3rd and Depew.
Police have shut down both directions of Sheridan Boulevard between W. 1st Avenue and 6th Avenue as they continue to investigate.
