Denver police admit shooting 36-year-old Brandon Cole, who 'wielded' black marker
By: An unarmed Denver man who was shot and killed by Denver police just over a week ago had a magic marker in his hand.
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas told The Denver Gazette Monday that the officer who shot 36-year-old Brandon Cole thought that the marker was a knife but that Cole "was in essence unarmed, and that makes this tough."
When police first arrived on the scene, police said, Cole was rummaging around in a car. A 911 caller reported that Cole was likely intoxicated and had pushed his wife from her wheelchair, according to police.
Thomas said the officer who shot Cole was placed on modified paid leave while the investigation into the shooting continues.
Another officer who attempted to shoot Cole with a taser is also on modified paid leave, he said. The officer's taser didn't strike because "in this case, it appears only one of the two probes struck the moving subject, and as a result, the Taser did not have an effect on the individual," said Denver police detective Matt Clark.
Denver Police released two body worn camera videos, which showed officers encounter Cole during a domestic violence call on Aug. 5 in the 2300 block of Cedar Ave. One of the two videos showed that Cole yelled “Let’s go” at least five times and walked toward one officer who is in the street pointing a taser. He then changed direction and walked toward a second officer, who asked him to stop.
Officers could be heard calling him by his first name, trying to de-escalate the situation.
Cole did not stop and was shot as he appeared to advance upon the officer. Behind Cole, and in the line of fire, were two bystanders — a child and a woman, who were not injured.
Denver police said that the officer likely did not see the child and the woman behind Cole. Clark showed a screen grab of the view, which the officer had, of Cole in the moments before she fired her gun. From that vantage point, Cole's body blocked the view of the bystanders behind him.
But moments before, the officer was heard telling the woman and the child to get out of the way.
Cole was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was the father of three children aged 13, 8 and 7-years-old.
The body-worn camera video showed his wife, Ebony, asking police: “Don’t pull your gun on my husband, please.”
She was on the ground, a wheelchair nearby. Police alleged she was thrown, or pushed, out of the wheelchair and then Cole began assaulting his 13-year-old son, whom Chief Thomas said is an important witness.
"His perceptions are critical," Thomas said.
Ebony Cole told the Denver Gazette that her husband was a hard-working man and a good father.
“He enjoyed his kids and he adored me,” Ebony Cole said.
Cole had no criminal records in the state of Coloado, according to a records search.