'They Keep On... Killing Our Black Men': Colorado Mother Distraught After Deputies Kill Son In Stolen Car
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A man died after an officer-involved shooting with Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputies Thursday morning. It happened at the Ivy Crossing apartment homes located at 7545 E. Harvard Avenue in unincorporated Arapahoe County.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said deputies were at the complex early Thursday morning when they spotted a stolen car with a man in it.
"Prior to this they had a call of somebody sleeping in the hallway. We don't know if it was the same deputies that were going to that call or if the deputy was just on routine patrol," said Arapahoe County Sheriff's Deputy John Bartmann.
The deputies called for backup and when it arrived, they approached the car and ordered the man out. They say he did not comply.
"He then at one point backed his vehicle towards deputies and it was a very small area. Deputies were up at the vehicle and were trying to get the suspect out of the vehicle. At one-point shots were then fired and the suspect was hit," said Bartmann.
The department says the man did not fire any shots and didn't point a gun at officers, although they did find a gun on him after they shot him and were providing first aid.
Witnesses to the scene paint a slightly different picture.
"This is exactly what happened; cops pulled up on him he got scared. They shot two shots. They said, 'hey freeze' and 'bam bam.' It was seconds after," one man who didn't want to be identified told the victim's family who showed up to the scene.
Jeanine McGhee is the mother of the man killed by police. She came to the scene visibly upset.
"They keep on with this killing our Black men and now they done killed my son and it ain't right!" said Jeanine.
She says her son wasn't perfect, but she says he was still a human being with a life that was taken too soon.
"He had his faults. We all do," she said. "He loved his family and he loved his mom."
