Reader: Police didn't have to kill knife-wielding man

Our post about a fatal officer-involved shooting near 29th and Downing noted that Denver police officers tried to use non-lethal force against a knife-wielding man before killing him. Our readers disagreed over whether the cops made the right call in the situation. Here's the take of one reader who voted...

By Michael Roberts

August 15, 2013

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Our post about a fatal officer-involved shooting near 29th and Downing noted that Denver police officers tried to use non-lethal force against a knife-wielding man before killing him. Our readers disagreed over whether the cops made the right call in the situation. Here's the take of one reader who voted "no."

Angie Lovato writes:

No I don't think they should of shot him. Yah if he was waving a knife around, why couldn't all the officers take him down. Aren't they trained for that sort of situation? Were they afraid of the knife -- or what were they afraid of and how many officers were out there? Really? In my opinion, a lot of Denver officers will only beat a man if they were drunk or they were a teenager in an alley or if there were no witnesses -- and again they should not have killed him. Anyone of the officers could have taken him down without killing him if they were trained right!!

For more memorable takes, visit our Comment of the Day archive.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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