Moments before opening fire on a car full of teenagers, two Denver police officers asked several times for those inside to get out after learning the car had been reported stolen, Police Chief Robert White said Wednesday.
“At some point, the original officer that responded to the scene, the vehicle started driving toward him, which pretty much had him between a car and a brick wall and a fence,” White said in an interview with The Denver Post. “Out of fear for his safety, he fired several shots and the other officer also fired several shots.”
White offered a few more details, which he described as preliminary, about Monday’s fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jessica Hernandez in an alley in the Park Hill neighborhood. She was driving the car and died of multiple gunshots after officers opened fire. Hernandez and the other occupants of the car did not have weapons, White said.
White also said he has opened an internal review into cases where officers fired their weapons at moving vehicles, saying it is not a practice the department advocates.
“It has to be in the most extreme circumstances,” White said.
Monday’s shooting was the fourth time in seven months that Denver police have shot drivers after officers said a car was being used as a weapon.
White also identified the two officers involved in the shooting as Daniel Greene, who has been at the department for 16 years, and Gabriel Jordan, who has been on the force for nine years.
Jordan’s leg was fractured during Monday’s incident, White said.
Greene and Jordan are patrol officers in District 2. Both have had minor disciplinary issues since they were hired, and both have multiple commendations for their actions as police officers, according to records obtained by The Post.
The officers have been placed on administrative leave, pending a criminal investigation being conducted by Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey. The police department also will conduct an internal review of the incident to determine whether any policies were violated.
Jordan was the first officer on the scene around 6:30 a.m. Monday after police received a call about a suspicious vehicle. He ran the car’s license plate number and learned the Honda sedan had been reported stolen, White said.
White said he can’t make a judgment on whether his officers acted appropriately in shooting Hernandez until all of the criminal and internal investigations are complete.
“Like I said the morning of the incident, there are a lot of unanswered questions,” he said.
The parent of one teen who was in the car told The Post that her daughter reported that the officer was not hit until after shots were fired and Hernandez lost control of the vehicle because she had been struck by a bullet.
White said that may not be an accurate account.
“The investigation will show exactly what happened,” he said. “Let’s wait and see what happens in the investigation.”
None of the four other teens in the car were injured, and they were not charged with any crimes in connection with the stolen car or events in the alley, White said.
The chief said he was sorry for the Hernandez family’s loss.
“In a loss of life, no matter what the circumstances are, I’m empathetic and sympathetic,” he said.
Hernandez’s family said they have requested an independent autopsy and toxicology test. The grieving family participated Tuesday night in a candlelight vigil at a park in Thornton, where they live.
White decided to review his department’s procedures on moving vehicles after discussing the issue with Stephanie O’Malley, the executive director of the Denver Department of Public Safety.
On Tuesday, Independent Monitor Nick Mitchell said his office also would conduct an evaluation of the police department’s policies, procedures and training on shooting at moving vehicles. He also said he would compare the department to others around the country.
In the four shootings at moving vehicles, two suspects were killed and three were injured. At least three officers also have suffered injuries in the incidents.
In the department’s use-of-force policy, officers are discouraged from shooting at moving vehicles unless the auto poses a threat of death or serious injury and when there is no reasonable alternative that would prevent serious injury or death.
“Firing at a moving vehicle may have very little impact on stopping the vehicle,” the policy says. “Disabling the driver may result in an uncontrolled vehicle, and the likelihood of injury to the occupants of the vehicle (who may not be involved in the crime) may be increased when the vehicle is either out of control or shots are fired into the passenger compartment.”
White said he wants to know how many of those situations have happened in the past couple of years. He wants to analyze those shootings to see how his officers acted when responding to the calls and whether they could have used different tactics.
He also said he will look to other departments for ideas.
“We don’t always have all of the answers,” he said.
Nationally, police departments for years have considered cars to be deadly weapons when they are driven toward officers, said Geoff Alpert, a University of South Carolina professor who studies use of force.
“Officers seeing a car hit one of their fellow officers is going to justify deadly force,” Alpert said.
And, he said, the driver’s intent doesn’t matter once that happens.
But there is a changing philosophy among policing experts to prohibit officers from shooting at moving vehicles.
In April, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended the Albuquerque Police Department change its use-of-force policy to prohibit officers from firing at moving vehicles, according to its letter to the city after an investigation into the department.
In 2011, the Police Executive Research Forum also recommended that the Albuquerque department change its policy, saying the practice put officers and citizens at a higher risk of harm.
The police research group, a nonprofit that researches police tactics and recommends policies, also has advised other law enforcement agencies against shooting at moving vehicles.
In a February 2013 review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the police research forum recommended a change, saying: “A moving vehicle in and of itself is not a presumed threat that justifies the use of deadly force. Firing at or from a moving vehicle is rarely effective and presents extreme danger to agents and innocent persons.”
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips
The Denver Police Department use-of-force policy for moving vehicles
Moving vehicles
a. Firing at moving vehicles: Firing at a moving vehicle may have very little impact on stopping the vehicle. Disabling the driver may result in an uncontrolled vehicle, and the likelihood of injury to occupants of the vehicle (who may not be involved in the crime) may be increased when the vehicle is either out of control or shots are fired into the passenger compartment. An officer threatened by an oncoming vehicle shall, if feasible, move out of the way rather than discharging a firearm. Officer(s) shall not discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle or its occupant(s) in response to a threat posed solely by the vehicle unless the officer has an objectively reasonable belief that:
1. The vehicle or suspect poses an immediate threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person and
2. The officer has no reasonable alternative course of action to prevent death or serious physical injury.
b. Firing from a moving vehicle: Accuracy may be severely impacted when firing from a moving vehicle, and firing from a moving vehicle may increase the risk of harm to officers or other citizens. Officers should not fire from a moving vehicle except in self defense or defense of another from what the officer reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.
(6) Above all, the safety of the public and the officer must be the overriding concern when the use of force is considered.
