Fatal Shooting Of Suspect In 7-Eleven Hostage Situation Ruled Justified
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey has decided an officer-involved shooting that left a suspect in a hostage situation dead was justified.
The man was shot while trying to use a woman as a human shield during the hostage standoff at a 7-Eleven. He died from his injuries.
Blas Leroux, 34, left a 7-Eleven store at West Colfax Avenue and Perry Street with a hostage in front of him on Jan. 13 when a police bullet to the shoulder knocked him down. The woman was able to run away.
Leroux was rushed to the hospital where he remained in critical condition before he died days later.
It was determined the fatal shot came from Technician Vincent Matthews of the Denver Police Department. He has now been cleared in the shooting.
"Technician Matthews explained that his primary mission was to protect the hostage and stop Leroux so that he could not harm her," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
The district attorney's report stated that Leroux wasn't armed but told his hostages that he was.
Officers haven't released a motive in the hostage situation.
LINK: Read The Decision
