Aurora police didn’t announce themselves before an officer shot a man in the buttocks through the front window of his home, his attorney said, though police asserted the man knew officers were outside.
Andrew Huff, 22, saw a person dressed in dark clothing approach his home about 11:30 p.m., Oct. 10 Thursday and grabbed a shotgun, fearing it was a roommate he had fought with earlier that day, his attorney Birk Baumgartner said.
Instead it was an Aurora police officer, who then fired five rounds, one of which struck Huff in the buttocks and lodged in his pelvis, the attorney said. After he’d been shot, Huff called 911 for police aid.
“Turns out, of course, that it was police who shot him,” Baumgartner said.
The attorney’s narrative offers the first detailed information about the shooting by Aurora police, who had released little information about what happened. But after The Sentinel in Aurora published a story that included the lawyer’s account, the Aurora Police Department’s public information office on Wednesday afternoon released its version of events.
In the statement, police said they responded to Huff’s home to contact a suspect from an earlier call about an assault. Approaching uniformed officers saw Huff standing outside his home, but Huff went into the house when he saw them, according to police.
Huff “was looking out of a window of a well-lit room as the responding officer was waving at him,” according to the statement posted on the department’s news blog. The officer “was certain Mr. Huff saw her and recognized her as a police officer,” the statement read.
Huff disappeared from the officer’s view and came back holding a shotgun. One of the officers on scene then fired, according to the statement. Police also said an officer knocked at the front door of the home, though it’s unclear at what point in the incident.
The department released a still image from an officer’s body camera but declined Wednesday to release the entire video. The department did not return a reporter’s call Wednesday afternoon. Questions remain about the shooting, including whether officers announced themselves before firing and why they returned to the house that night.
“We will release the body worn camera footage when we can do so in a manner that does not impede any future court proceedings,” the statement read.
Baumgartner, however, said Huff did not know the people outside his home were police, who had visited the house earlier in the day.
Police first responded to Huff’s home shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday for a call about a fight between Huff and his roommate, Baumgartner said. Officers interviewed Huff and left after Huff gave them his phone number, the attorney said.
About 11:30 p.m. officers returned to Huff’s house, though Baumgartner said he didn’t know what prompted their return. The officers did not turn on their police lights and did not announce themselves as they approached, Baumgartner said.
“He grabbed his shotgun to protect his family,” Baumgartner said.
An officer then fired five rounds, one of which struck Huff in the buttocks. One of the rounds struck the house’s bedroom, where Huff’s girlfriend and 3-year-old daughter were, Baumgartner said.
Officers did not enter the home immediately, and Huff bled for at least 30 minutes while waiting for help, Baumgartner said.
When more officers and paramedics arrived, the officers detained Huff’s girlfriend, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend for hours without allowing them to leave, the attorney said.
Huff’s family was allowed back into their house the day after the shooting, but police had damaged the house during their search, including ripping out chunks of the walls, Baumgartner said.
Baumgartner remained in the hospital Wednesday with the bullet still lodged in his pelvis. He suffered a severed colon and has lost all feeling in his groin area, Baumgartner said.
“There’s no telling what kind of damage it’s done to his internal organs,” the attorney said.
Aurora police announced Tuesday that officers would recommend felony and misdemeanor assault charges as well as a menacing charge against Huff in connection to his fight with his roommate.
The case draws parallels with a shooting Saturday by a Fort Worth police officer who shot and killed a woman through a window of her home. The woman, Atatiana Jefferson, took a handgun from her purse when she heard noises outside her home. She pointed the gun toward the window and was shot and killed by a police officer, who did not announce himself while responding to a call about Jefferson’s door being open, according to media reports.
The officer is facing a murder charge in connection to the Fort Worth case.
Aurora police have shot and killed two people so far this year, and another man died after a violent arrest by the department’s officers, Denver Post data shows.
