AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora police officer shot and killed a man during a confrontation that followed a traffic stop near the intersection of Interstate 225 and 6th Avenue Saturday evening, police said.
Denver7's Maggy Wolanske spoke with Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain and witnesses at the scene to gather answers about what happened.
The officer tried to conduct a “routine” traffic stop following an unspecified violation by a driver around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The driver, though, continued driving and hit at least two other cars, Chamberlain said.
The suspect then got out of his car and walked toward the officer, Chamberlain said, and “appeared” to be walking toward a handgun that was at the scene. Chamberlain said the suspect continued to walk toward the officer "in an aggressive posture" and appeared to shout for other people at the scene to confront the officer with him.
The officer, whom Chamberlain said was working alone and had backed into the intersection during the exchange, eventually fired “one to three rounds” at the suspect. A witness who told Denver7 they were in the first vehicle that was rear-ended by the suspect vehicle said "at least three" shots were fired.
Firefighters who arrived at the scene thereafter pronounced the suspect dead.
FULL VIDEO | Chamberlain details the deadly encounter in the video below:
Alison Coombs, an Aurora City Council member, identified the man killed in the shooting as Rajon Belt-Stubblefield. The at-large city council member posted the following statement on her Facebook account:
"Rajon Belt-Stubblefield was killed by Aurora Police last night. The Aurora Police Department shared a narrative that heavily favored the officers perspective, and said any further information will take months and months to address. The narrative provided biases the conversation against the person who was shot and killed, and now cannot speak for himself. For full transparency, the community deserves to see body cam footage and all other video promptly, not after months. The APD has not earned the trust necessary to demand months from the community before addressing why and how another unarmed black man was shot and killed by our police department."
Much was unknown about the specific details of the exchange between the officer and Belt-Stubblefield prior to the shooting, Chamberlain said. A witness said at one point Belt-Stubblefield was walking away from the officer, but that the two "engaged" for about a minute-and-a-half to two minutes before shots were fired.
It was not clear where the handgun at the scene came from. A witness who spoke to Denver7 said the suspect was unarmed and that no weapon was visible. An investigation will also examine the aid – or lack thereof – provided to Belt-Stubblefield by the officer. A witness stated that multiple officers on the scene did not render aid.
“It doesn't appear that [aid] was allowed for based upon the actions of the individuals around and even based upon the actions of the suspect,” he said.
Chamberlain said, though, that body-worn cameras, Flock cameras in the area, and potential bystander video all may have captured the incident on video.
He promised a thorough investigation, which would happen in conjunction with the district attorney’s office.
“We are going to do everything, both internal and external, to make sure that this investigation is transparent, it is 100% valid, and it is factual,” Chamberlain said. “This isn't something that we are going to have answers to overnight. But I also want [people to know] without any question, that we will give 100% of the facts – good, bad or indifferent – about what happened here tonight, and that is what I want to let people know."
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