Parents of man shot and killed by Colorado officer after scuffle sue

Audio By Carbonatix

DENVER (AP) — The parents of a man who was shot and killed by an officer after the two had scuffled are suing the officer and accusing police in the Denver suburb of Aurora failing to end a pattern of racially discriminatory policing.

The lawsuit, announced Tuesday, said Officer Brandon Mills shot Rashaud Johnson, 32, twice in the chest on May 12 when he posed no threat. Mills held him at gunpoint as Johnson bled on the ground, waiting about five minutes for another officer to arrive without trying to help, the lawsuit said.

When the other officer arrived, Mills told him Johnson did not have a gun but said Johnson had tried to disarm him several times, according to police body camera footage. Mills put a single hand on one of Johnson's wounds after the officers handcuffed him, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said Johnson, who was Black and a standup comedian, was having a mental health crisis when he was killed at a vast remote airport parking lot near where he lived. Employees had called 911 five times over about two hours asking for police to check on Johnson as he walked barefoot on the lot’s hot pavement, according to the lawsuit and information previously released by police. Mills responded alone after the employees reported that Johnson was “trying to fight them.”

Johnson did not respond to Mills’ questions and rushed toward the officer, according to body camera footage. Mills swung his baton and then fired his Taser before they ended up on the ground in a struggle, the footage showed.

Johnson pulled one of Mills’ spare ammunition magazines from his belt, the lawsuit said. After Mills pushed Johnson off him and ordered him to move back, Mills pulled out his gun and said he would shoot Johnson if he didn’t get on the ground. Johnson stood still, not far from the lot’s fence, before he slowly began walking toward Mills, according to the footage. Mills then shot him from about 15 feet (5 meters) away.

District Attorney Brian Mason has not yet decided whether the shooting was justified or criminal charges should be filed following an investigation by other area law enforcement agencies, his spokesperson, Christopher Hopper, said.

The Aurora Police Department is reviewing the shooting, city attorney Pete Schulte said.

“Like any critical incident, there are important facts that will be revealed by these investigations that are not depicted in a single body camera video. Now that this lawsuit has been filed my office will defend the city and the officer in this case,” Schulte said.

Mills could not be located for comment. An email message sent to the union representing Aurora police officers was not immediately returned.

At a May 29 press conference on the shooting, Aurora police Chief Todd Chamberlain said that “the absence of a weapon does not mean there is an absence of danger.”

Johnson's mother, Taushica Carter, said that as a military veteran, she has trouble understanding how someone who took an oath to uphold the law killed her only child.

“Someone who thought they were God, basically, took my baby's life,” she said at a news conference with her lawyers, tears running down her face.

His father, Christopher Johnson, said he wanted people to know that his son was not a troublemaker and had parents who loved him.

“We want his memory to be positive and the community to understand the loss that did not have to happen,” he said.