Denver police officer fatally shoots man after mistaking his pen for a knife

Police were reportedly responding to a domestic violence allegation

A Denver police officer fatally shot a man after mistaking the black marker he was holding for a weapon.

Body-camera footage released by the Denver Police Department captured the deadly incident as officers responded to a domestic violence report on 5 August, just before 8pm.

A neighbor had called 911 to report that the woman may have been pushed out of her wheelchair, and said 36-year-old Brandon Cole was “going after” his son, according to the Denver Post.

The video showed a woman sitting on the ground next to a wheelchair. She can be heard yelling to the officers: “Don’t, don’t pull your gun out on my husband, please.”

Cole is seen between two officers on a street as he approaches one of them, who strikes him with a taser. Then, Cole approaches the other officer as he holds an object up to his chest and lunges toward her.

The officer, whose name has not been released, apparently believed Cole was holding a weapon and subsequently shot him.

“This is a tremendous tragedy,” Police Chief Ron Thomas said at a news conference on Monday.

Police Cmdr Matt Clark said Cole was “agitated” and was “aggressive toward the officers.” Even after officers asked him to stop approaching them, he took an “aggressive stance” toward the officers,” he added.

That’s when one officer deployed a taser, but it was “ineffective.” Cole then approached the other officer who shot and killed Cole.

Cmdr Clark said that the officer feared Cole would stab her.

On top of this, an adult and child can be seen walking directly behind Cole in the footage.

“You can see in the video that when she finally deploys her duty weapon, the person is so close to her that the view of the young child and other person are not even clear to her,” Chief Thomas explained. “Certainly that was a consideration, but there was not much time to act before she was overrun by that individual.”

No one else was injured in the incident.

The unidentified officer has been with the police department since 2019 and has not been involved in any prior shootings, the Denver Post reported.

The Denver District Attorney will determine whether the officer acted legally when she killed Cole, the outlet reported.