Seventeenth Judicial District Attorney Dave Young concluded in his legal analysis that Officer Rick Lahr had reason to believe the suspect was a threat to Lahr and others. Young on Monday released his legal analysis of the shooting, saying it was unlikely a jury would believe Lahr did not act in self-defense.
The suspect, Pierree Davis, had robbed two Family Dollar stores just before closing Jan. 26, the report said. In both robberies, Young's report said, he pointed a handgun at store employees and threatened to shoot them if they did not give him cash.
Lahr arrived on the scene in the middle of the second robbery and waited for backup outside the store with an AR-15 rifle. When Davis fled the store, Lahr ordered the suspect to stop, he told investigators.
Instead, Davis kept running around the corner of the store and Lahr fired several shots. Davis was hit by those shots, fell then stood with his hands up.
Lahr ordered the suspect onto the ground and told him to stop looking at him, Young's report said. Davis kept moving his hands toward his body, ignoring Lahr's commands to keep his palms visible.
Lahr then fired a second time, hitting Davis in the right side of his body. Davis later died at Denver Health Medical Center from multiple gunshot wounds.