DENVER -- The Denver District Attorney's Office has cleared a Denver police officer of criminal wrongdoing after he shot and killed a man during a struggle over another officer's gun.
The Denver Post reports that District Attorney Mitch Morrissey says that Officer Sean Cronin was legally justified in the August shooting. He also credited Cronin with saving the life of fellow officer Eric Morales.
The officers had responded to a home after 21-year-old Michael Ferguson's mother reported that her son stole a truck from her workplace.
Ferguson had tried to flee the home and began struggling with Officer Morales on the street.
Morrissey determined that Ferguson reached for Morales' gun and fired one shot, striking himself in the leg. Cronin then fired two shots, killing Ferguson.
Ferguson's mother, Tobi, knew her son had open warrants and she said she was trying to do the right thing when she called police.
"My son was in trouble a little bit, I'm not defending my son in any way. We were trying to help him and bring him in safely," said Ferguson.
Ferguson had active warrants stemming from a car theft case from May 2015 and a careless driving charge from June 2016. He failed to appear in court days before the shooting and was also wanted for violating his probation in the theft case.
During the theft case, a judge ordered him to be put on Sex Offender Intensive Supervision Probation, though it is still unclear exactly why.
He served time in the Colorado Division of Youth Corrections system from an unknown charge that happened when he was 14.
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