Denver officer fatally shot man thought to be holding knife – but it was a marker pen

Police officer fatally shot Cole, who she thought was armed with a knife, when he lunged at her. Photograph: AP

A Denver police officer fatally shot a man who was holding a marker pen, which the officer mistakenly believed was a knife, officials said on Monday.

Newly released body-camera footage of the killing of Brandon Cole, 36, on 5 August shows an officer firing two shots at the man who was on the sidewalk. A young child and a woman were standing close behind the man as the officer fired at him and he fell to the ground.