AURORA, Colo. — The Aurora Police Department on Monday released five additional videos from the day an officer fatally shot Jor’Dell Richardson, a 14-year-old boy who was killed by police on June 1 after allegedly robbing a convenience store.
The newly released footage includes surveillance video from nearby business. Previously, the department only released video from the involved officers' body cameras.
During a press conference eight days after the shooting, Interim Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo said to his knowledge, there was no surveillance video that would show more of the struggle that preceded the shooting. But attorneys for the family have maintained that a business owner said he turned over surveillance footage to police. The latest release from Aurora PD includes one of those videos.
Attorneys representing Richardson's family said in a statement the additional footage does not justify the shooting.
"The surveillance videos released today continue to show that Jor’Dell never threatened an officer with a weapon," said Siddhartha Rathod with Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC. "There is no evidence from any of the videos released to date that shows this shooting of a 14-year-old child was justified. What the videos do demonstrate is that the Aurora Chief of Police cannot be trusted to be objective.”
Crime
Aurora police release body cam video in shooting death of 14-year-old
According to Acevedo, a sergeant with the police department called for backup on June 1 after spotting a group teens in hoodies and medical masks walking to a convenience store near East Eighth Avenue and North Dayton Street in Aurora. Acevedo claimed while inside, Richardson raised his sweatshirt and displayed a weapon to the cashier at that store.
That weapon was later revealed to be a pellet gun. Acevedo said his officers were not aware the weapon was a replica.
“We know for a fact that he used it to commit an armed robbery – there’s no ambiguity there,” Acevedo said during the June 9 press conference.
Five minutes later, officers responding to the scene spotted the teens running out of the store and chased after them.
An officer can be heard on bodycam ordering Richardson to “get on the ground or I’m going to tase you,” but Acevedo said the boy was not close enough to the Taser for it to take effect.
Another officer then tells Richardson to get on the ground. Seconds later, Acevedo said, Richardson's hand is in his waistband before an altercation ensues between the 14-year-old and the officer.
The initial video released by Aurora PD does not show where the teen's hands were or if he ever pointed the gun at officers, as they were out of the bodycam's view.
A police officer is then heard telling Richardson he’s going to shoot him, firing about five seconds after the announcement. The 14-year-old died after being transported to the hospital.
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In its announcement Monday, Aurora PD said the investigations into both the robbery and shooting are ongoing.
"The Aurora Police Department continues to investigate the armed robbery that led to the officer-involved shooting (OIS) of Jor’Dell Richardson, and the 18th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) continues to investigate the OIS," the department said on its website. "Due to the ongoing investigation of the incident and the related, ongoing armed robbery investigation that precipitated it, the department and the city of Aurora will not provide any additional updates until the investigations conclude."
