AURORA, Colo. — The Aurora officer who shot and killed an unarmed Black man earlier this year did not violate agency policy, according to an internal investigation from the Aurora Police Department.
Kilyn Lewis, 37, was being surveilled by both the Aurora and Denver police departments on May 23 on an outstanding warrant for attempted first-degree murder in connection with a shooting that occurred near E. 48th Ave. and Colorado Blvd. in Denver on May 5.
Lewis was wanted in connection with the shooting, which injured a 63-year-old man who was struck by gunfire while Lewis was involved in a rolling gunfight with another driver, according to police.
An arrest affidavit in the case states the 63-year-old man who reported being legally blind said he was walking in the area that day when he heard gunshots and felt pain but did not see who shot him. Officers who responded to the scene found “several spent cartridge casings” and began reviewing video from nearby businesses in which they saw several people outside a business “that appeared to be involved in an argument,” one of whom was driving a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo – a vehicle which reportedly belonged to Lewis.
Surveillance video showed several vehicles leaving the scene of the argument followed shortly by the red Monte Carlo, according to the affidavit, which states that, “Officers noted that as the Monte Carlo was in the area where the cartridge casings were located earlier, people in the area began to scatter.”
A witness who spoke with police after the incident told investigators that at first “everyone was being cool, but then a black Tahoe arrived and a male from inside showed a gun and demanded people come out of the store to fight,” according to the affidavit.
As people left the store, the affidavit states, people heard gunshots. The witness identified the driver of the red Monte Carlo as “Kilyn Lewis.”
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Further investigation into the surveillance video from nearby businesses showed that around 11:30 a.m. on May 5, the red Monte Carlo which was “occupied only by the driver” drove south on Colorado Blvd. and as it got to 48th Ave., “a hand is seen coming across the passenger seat holding what appeared to be a gun,” the affidavit states. “It is at this time that pedestrians began to scatter.”
Police allege in the affidavit that the red Monte Carlo was then seen “accelerating rapidly” out of the view of the cameras.
Later that day, investigators talked to the legally blind man who was injured in the shooting at a hospital where he was being treated for four wounds to his right shoulder and back. The affidavit states the man said he has a very small field of vision and that “even what he can see he sees three of.”
A day later, investigators spoke to another witness in the area where the shooting occurred, who told police that an older man came up to him and told him he had been shot in the shoulder, but the affidavit states that the witness told police they “did not see any blood and believed that the man was not mentally sound.”
Based on this information, police requested an arrest warrant for Lewis on the charges of attempted first-degree murder, the affidavit states.
Three weeks later, on May 23, officers from both Aurora and Denver encountered Lewis outside an apartment complex on S. Ironton St. near the intersection with E. Alameda Ave. in an attempt to arrest him.
Edited body camera video released by Aurora police after the deadly shooting showed embers from Aurora’s SWAT team driving up to Lewis, who is near the trunk of the red Monte Carlo, when several officers ambush him and yell at him to get on the ground.
Lewis, who isn’t seen holding anything in his hands, instead walks toward the driver’s side of his vehicle as officers continue to yell at him to obey commands. The video then shows Lewis moving his right-hand out of view of the officers momentarily as he grabs an object.
It’s at this point that one Aurora SWAT officer fires a single shot before Lewis is heard repeatedly yelling at police, “I don’t have nothing!” as he falls to the ground.
Warning: The body camera footage in the video player below could be disturbing to some. Viewer discretion is advised.
That object was later determined to be a cellphone, according to police.
Lewis was taken to a hospital where he died two days later.
The Aurora SWAT officer who shot him – identified as Officer Michael Dieck – a 12-year veteran of the force who has been working for the SWAT team for more than eight years, was placed on administrative leave while separate investigations reviewed the evidence to the determine whether he was culpable.
Based on the review of all the evidence received by the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Critical Incident Response Team (CRIT), DA John Kellner said in an Oct. 11 report of the findings that “evidence supports the conclusion that under the circumstances, Officer Dieck reasonably believed there was an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, to himself and others, which justified the use of deadly force.”
The second, administrative investigation being led by the Aurora Police Department’s Internal Investigations Bureau to determine whether the officer failed to comply with the department’s policies and training.
In a statement Friday, a spokesperson for Aurora police said the department “concluded its administrative investigation of a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred in May in the 300 block of South Ironton Street and has determined the involved officer did not violate agency policy.”
“As with all department functions, we will ensure that the operations not only align with industry best practices, but also with our mission to make the city of Aurora a safe community to live, work and raise a family,” said Chief Chamberlain. “The review is being done in the spirit of the principles of the consent decree including transparency, continuous improvement and accountability to our residents.”
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