Brighton police officer shoots unarmed suspect during struggle

A Brighton police officer shot a suspect Wednesday night after officers responded to a report of a man chasing a woman near 700 Mockingbird Street.

“We got calls of a woman screaming in the parking lot” of an apartment complex, Cmdr. Frank Acosta said.

After officers arrived about 10:24 p.m., they found the woman and located the suspect, a man in his mid30s, Acosta said.

During their investigation, a struggle ensued between the suspect and an officer and the officer shot the suspect, who was not armed with a weapon, Acosta said.

The suspect was taken to the hospital and was in surgery early Thursday morning, Acosta said. He didn’t know the severity of the man’s injuries. No officers were injured, Acosta said.

The police officer who shot the suspect has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation by the Adams County Critical Incident Team.

No names have been released pending further investigation. Detectives remained at the scene through the night and continued Thursday morning, Acosta said.

“I think people have less and less respect for themselves and for officers,” Acosta said of numerous recent officer-involved shootings that have killed both officers and suspects. The shootings are happening all over the country, he said, noting a suspect shot and killed a Dallas police officer Wednesday night.

Acosta said he’s not sure that there has been an uptick in officer-involved shootings nationally. Social media may be creating increased awareness to shootings that have been happening all along.

The Brighton shooting is the third officer-involved shooting along the Front Range in as many days.

On Monday, El Paso County Deputy Micah Flick and Manuel Zetina died in a shootout when Flick and other members of a stolencar task force tried to arrest Zetina.

On Tuesday, Denver police shot and killed a suspect allegedly armed with a knife after officers responded to a burglary in progress at a home in the 1800 block of South Alcott Street. No officers were injured.