SLAIN MAN’S STEPSON RECALLS FATAL SHOOTINGS

Chad Hayashi tells ABC details of tragedy involving his stepdad and Aurora police.

Chad Hayashi and Gary Black struggled with an intruder who was trying to choke Hayashi’s son. Black shot the intruder. “As I turned the corner, my dad is face down,” Hayashi tells ABC.

The stepson of the man shot and killed early Monday morning by Aurora police says he awoke early that morning to find a woman he didn’t know standing in his bedroom doorway.

“And she starts saying to me, ‘My son is on drugs and he has your baby,’ ” Chad Hayashi said.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Hayashi said there were just seconds between when his stepfather, Richard “Gary” Black Jr., shot the man who’d broken into their home and assaulted his son and when police shot his stepfather dead.

As Hayashi looked over the woman’s shoulder that morning, he says, he saw another man in the house and the bathroom lights on.

“I immediately just shot into the bathroom to find this naked guy soaking wet … choking my son, biting his left ear,” Hayashi said.

He said he pressed his thumb against the man’s throat to get him to release his jaw from the boy’s ear, then had to jam his thumb “up to the first knuckle” into the man’s eye socket.

“When he didn’t squeal in pain or anything, I got even more worried,” Hayashi said.

But the man, who has still not been identified by police, let the boy go and Hayashi said he was able to flip the man out of the bathtub.

Black was there with him in the bathroom, apparently having confronted the intruder just before Hayashi awoke. The two struggled with the intruder before Black shot the intruder twice in the torso, according to Hayashi.

“My dad exited the bathroom, went around the corner, and I immediately heard multiple shots, which I thought was my dad engaging these other people in the house,” Hayashi said. “There was a pause, and then I hear people start screaming ‘Police!’ and I hear people enter the house. And my son starts screaming ‘I’m here with my dad. This crazy guy tried to attack me.’ ”

“And as I turned the corner, my dad is face down … and he’s handcuffed. And I reached down and — I don’t remember if I touched his shoulder or his face — but he looked at me and I got pushed off by an officer out the door,” Hayashi said.

Hayashi and his mother were taken to a police station, where they had to wait for hours before being told that Black was dead, he said. But he said he already knew.

The Aurora police officer who fatally shot a man protecting his home from an intruder this week also was involved in a June police shooting, the Aurora Police Department confirmed.

The officer, who has not been identified, was involved in a June 27 shooting at the Biltmore Motel, said Ken Forrest, Aurora police spokesman. That shooting also was fatal.

At the motel shooting, Aurora police were responding to reports of gunshots when they encountered a man who matched the suspect’s description. Chief Nick Metz said that after the shooting, officers called to the man to stop and drop his gun, but he fled.

During the foot chase, the suspect ran into the motel parking lot, and one officer fired his gun and struck the suspect, according to police reports. The suspect died at a hospital.

Police found a weapon not belonging to law enforcement in the parking lot of the motel, according to a news statement by police.

After the shooting, the officer who fired the fatal shot was placed on paid administrative leave. But just over a month later, he was back on patrol and involved in the fatal shooting early Monday morning at 10609 E. Montview Blvd.

The department follows guidelines endorsed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for handling officers who have shot someone while on duty, Chris Amsler, a department spokesman, said in an emailed statement.

“Before an officer returns to duty the department’s psychological services, major crimes unit and district attorney’s office are all consulted before a decision is made,” the statement said.

Around 1:30 a.m. Monday, a naked stranger had burst into the home and attacked the homeowners’ 11-yearold grandson. Gary Black, 73, and his stepson tried to physically fight off the attacker but when they couldn’t stop him, Black retrieved a 9mm handgun and killed the attacker.

The intruder was identified Wednesday by the Adams County coroner’s office as 26-year-old Dajon Harper of Denver.

Black’s wife had called 911 to report the intruder and police had arrived at the address when they heard shots inside the house. Aurora police said they arrived to a “violent and chaotic scene” and encountered an armed adult male, who was killed by an officer. That man was Black, who had been defending his family. Details about the encounter are vague.

Metz released a video Wednesday afternoon expressing his desire to provide more details. However, the 17th Judicial District attorney’s office has asked the police department to withhold information until the investigation is further along, he said.

“We remain incredibly frustrated we are not able to get that information to you in a more timely manner,” Metz said. “With the advent of social media information goes out very quickly. Obviously, much of that information, especially as it pertains to this situation, has been inaccurate.”

Metz pledged to hold a news conference Thursday to release more details that have been gathered from reviewing 911 calls, officers’ body camera footage and interviews with witnesses.