DENVER — A Denver police officer will face assault charges for allegedly shooting five bystanders after he fired at a suspect in a crowded bar district in Lower Downtown last summer, a grand jury ruled Wednesday.
The grand jury indicted Officer Brandon Ramos on 14 counts: two counts of second-degree assault, six counts of third-degree assault, one count of prohibited use of a weapon and five counts of reckless endangerment.
Ramos’ decision to open fire in the direction of a crowd was “reckless, unreasonable and unnecessary,” according to the indictment.
He was suspended without pay Wednesday after he was indicted, according to the Denver Police Department. The department declined to provide further comment on the indictment.
“Police officers make split-second decisions under difficult circumstances on a daily basis, and those decisions are rooted in keeping people safe,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said in a statement. “While the situation remains an unfortunate one, and it’s regrettable that innocent bystanders were injured, I’m surprised to see that the grand jury found the officer’s actions involved criminal intent. As there is now a criminal court case regarding this incident, the city cannot provide additional comments until the case is concluded.”
The president of Denver’s police union defended Ramos at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, saying the officer’s indictment was without merit.
“To charge this officer with a felony crime, jeopardizing his career, his liberty for acting as he was trained, in the public interest, with no malice, ill intent or lack of concern, is unfortunate and sad,” Denver Police Protective Association President Tyson Worrell said. “… Officer Ramos is not a criminal and should not be treated as one.”
Ramos was one of three officers who fired at 21-year-old Jordan Waddy after bars closed on July 17. Police previously alleged they saw Waddy punch someone outside of the bar and make a motion that indicated he had a gun. Waddy walked away from officers as they approached him.
Body camera footage showed Waddy stepping between two parked cars and onto the street, then raising his hands when he saw police. Waddy turned his back to the officers and walked back between the two cars and onto the sidewalk, the videos showed.
Waddy then turned to face the officers and grabbed a gun from his clothing as officers yelled “stop” and “get down.” At a briefing last summer, Denver police said Waddy fumbled with the weapon, appearing to hold it from the top with his hand over the slide. He did not hold the gun in a “pistol grip,” Cmdr. Matt Clark said at the time.
Body camera footage shows Waddy throwing the gun to the ground as three officers, including Ramos, opened fire.
A total of six bystanders outside of the beer hall were injured, including some who suffered gunshot wounds. According to the indictment, one man was shot in the arm, two women were shot in the leg, one woman was shot in the shoulder and one man was shot in the foot. Waddy also suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Three of the victims — Yekalo Weldewihet, Bailey Alexander and Willis Small IV — said in a statement sent by their attorneys that they were relieved by the grand jury’s decision.
“This is just a small step toward the accountability our community deserves and expects from its law enforcement officers,” according to the statement from Rathod Mohamedbhai Law.
The other two officers — Meghan Lieberson and Kenneth Rowland — will not face criminal charges because prosecutors and the grand jury found their actions to be legally justified, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a news release. The grand jury found that they did not injure any of the five bystanders who were shot.
Lieberson fired two rounds and Rowland fired four, but there was nobody behind Waddy from their perspective. They used an appropriate amount of force and did not put others’ lives at risk when they fired, according to the indictment.
Lieberson and Rowland have returned to work but remain on a non-patrol assignment, according to the Denver Police Department.
Ramos fired from a different angle. He knew that, from where he stood, there was a large crowd of people behind Waddy and that he did not have a clear backdrop, the indictment states. At no point did Waddy turn and face Ramos with the gun and Ramos was not in immediate danger when he fired his weapon, according to the grand jury.
“Officer Ramos’ decision to shoot was not legally justified because it was reckless, unreasonable and unnecessary for the purpose of protecting himself or other officers and he consciously disregarded an unjustifiable risk of injury to the crowd behind Mr. Waddy,” the indictment states.
Worrell, the police union president, placed the blame for the shooting on Waddy alone, and said the officers were acting in the public’s best interest. Officers had to act to stop Waddy once he grabbed the gun, Worrell said.
“This could have all been avoided if the suspect would have stopped and showed his hands,” Worrell said. The union president did not directly answer a question as to how shooting bystanders was in the public interest and instead pointed to general crime, gun possession and violence in the LoDo area.
“The Denver police are not hurting anyone down there, it’s other members of the community that are hurting people down there,” he said. “And that is why police are there, to respond to those incidents.”
Worrell said the union would defend Ramos “vigorously” and said the officer’s indictment was likely to have a “chilling effect” on the recruitment and retention of officers.
The grand jury investigating the LoDo police shooting heard testimony from 17 witnesses and reviewed 140 pieces of evidence before handing down the indictment, according to McCann.
“I want to thank the members of the grand jury who have spent many days over the last several months listening to testimony and examining exhibits,” McCann said in a news release. “This is a very serious matter and I appreciate the time and attention each of them devoted to this important decision. The case will now move forward in the courts.”
The case was the first time McCann has convened a grand jury to review a Denver police shooting.
Waddy also faces criminal weapons and assault charges in connection to the incident.
———
