No charges for Denver police officers who shot and killed man who charged with large knife

No criminal charges will be filed against three Denver police officers who last month shot and killed a man as he advanced toward them with a large knife.

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said Miguel Tapia charged quickly at two of the officers with a knife and, thus, all three officers were legally justified in using deadly physical force to stop him.

In her letter, McCann said officers initially fired Tasers at Tapia, but it was ineffective. The officers shot Tapia 12 times.

Just before noon on June 16, officers responded to reports of a man who had been obstructing traffic at the intersection of Broadway and Lawrence for 40 minutes, walking back and forth and making gestures with his arms.

McCann's letter explained that Tapias was dressed as a woman, but was later identified by the medical examiner as a male. Since it was no longer possible to ask Tapia his preference, the district attorney chose to identify him as a male.

According to McCann’s decision letter to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas, Tapia was encouraging motorists to hit him.

A uniformed Parks and Recreation Ranger was the first to approach Tapia, and encouraged him to get to safety. Corey Beaton assumed that the 52-year-old was having a mental health crisis, McCann’s letter explained. When Beaton called police, Tapia pulled out what was described as a "large hunting knife" with a 6-8 inch blade and demonstrated “throat slashing” movements.

When Denver police officers Julian Barajas, Francisco Zarate and Marc Smith arrived, Tapia was still in the middle of the street and put his knife away, the letter stated.

Zarate parked his police car near Tapia to block him in. Tapia, who spoke only in Spanish, warned officers not to get close “or I’m going to (expletive) you up,” according to McCann’s letter.

Body-worn camera screen shots showed Tapia advancing toward the officers who then tased him unsuccessfully, the letter stated. That is when Tapia then began running toward them, McCann wrote in her decision letter.

At 11:53 am, the three officers fired 12 shots in three seconds, killing Tapia, the letter said. The coroner’s report indicated that the bullets hit Tapia in the torso and in the head.

“The facts are clear that Tapia was unlawfully charging Officers Zarate and Barajas with a large hunting knife and was about to commit assault,” McCann wrote in her decision letter to Thomas.

Zarate, whom a Denver Police Crime Scene Unit found fired two of the 12 bullets, later told investigators that he “felt like he was going to get stabbed. It was that close.”

Bystanders who saw the incident agreed that they felt Zarate was in immediate danger, with one witness expressing fear for him.

The investigation found that Barajas seven bullets and Smith shot three times.

McCann will hold a virtual community meeting to discuss her decision regarding the incident at 5:30 pm on Aug. 14. A link to that meeting was not immediately available.