Denver police released bodycam footage last week of the moment officers rammed down the back door of a 7-Eleven and fired 36 rounds at a suspect who was holding a store clerk hostage with a nail-pulling tool, killing him.
The fatal police shooting came after Christopher Cauch, 43, had barricaded himself and two others in the back of the convenience store on the evening of March 1, according to the Denver Post.
Four officers responding to reports of a stabbing and robbery at the convenience store found that a store clerk was “under duress” in a back room, Chief Ron Thomas told the paper.
The police used a battering ram to open the reinforced door and found Cauch threatening the employee “with some sort of sharp instrument,” Thomas said.
The object was later identified as a 6-inch metal nail-pulling shaft.
“Officers recognized that person was in imminent danger and started to fire on that individual,” the chief said.
Footage from an officer’s bodycam showed the cops opening fire at close range after the suspect refused orders to drop his weapon.
The responding cops fired 36 rounds in five seconds at the man, Cmdr. Matt Clark told KUSA-TV.
Cauch died from his gunshot wounds at a hospital, and his hostages were reportedly unharmed by the barrage of gunfire.
The four officers involved in the fatal shooting were placed on modified duty pending an investigation.
