A Denver Police Department officer who shot and killed a 21-year-old man in August during a struggle over another officer’s 9mm handgun will not face criminal charges.
In a letter clearing Officer Sean Cronin of criminal wrongdoing, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey praised Cronin for saving the life of fellow police officer, Eric Morales.
“The evidence is overwhelming that Officer Cronin’s actions saved Officer Morales’s life and quite possibly the lives of other officers and are legally justified,” Morrissey wrote in the letter, which was released Monday.
Morales and Cronin were two of five officers dispatched to a home on the 2600 block of West Bates Avenue on Aug. 31 to pick up Michael Ferguson, who was wanted on four warrants. Two of the warrants noted that Ferguson had “violent tendencies,” the letter said.
Ferguson’s mother had called 911 to report her son’s whereabouts because he had stolen a truck from her workplace, the letter said. She also told a 911 call-taker that Ferguson was bipolar, had attention deficit disorder and used methamphetamine.
When officers arrived at the home on West Bates Avenue, Ferguson bolted out of a bedroom window, and the officers began chasing him.
Ferguson tried to steal a police car to escape, and Morales tackled him.
As the two men fought in the street, Ferguson tried to grab his pistol from its holster. Morales told investigators that he felt a tugging on his belt and looked down to see both of Ferguson’s hands on his weapon, the letter said.
Morales punched Ferguson in the face and ordered him to let go of the gun. Officer Nicholas Grove, who was patrolling the area, joined the fight.
Grove said he saw the gun starting to move and then heard a gunshot. Morales also said he heard one gunshot followed by two more.
The investigation determined that the first shot was fired by Ferguson from Morales’s gun. That bullet struck Ferguson in the thigh, the letter said.
The following two shots were fired by Cronin, who had tried to help restrain Ferguson but couldn’t find room to grab hold of his legs.
The letter quotes Cronin as saying: “So I pulled my gun out and I put it in his face and, just as I was gonna give him an order, to make sure he was clear, I heard a gunshot.”
Cronin told investigators he saw Morales fall back and thought he had been shot.
“I then moved around to the other side so that I wasn’t in a path of fire and I shot him (Ferguson) once in the face,” the letter quoted Cronin as saying.
Cronin thought Ferguson had something in his hand and he saw his arm move again.
“I thought he was bringing up a gun to shoot Officer Morales again. So I shot again,” Cronin told investigators.
Investigators tested Ferguson’s hands and pants for gunshot residue and tested Morales’s gun for DNA. DNA tests concluded that Ferguson did have his hands on the weapon, and both of his hands tested positive for gunshot residue, the letter said.
Ferguson was one of 11 people shot by Denver police in 2016. All but one of those cases has been cleared by Morrissey, who leaves office Tuesday after serving 12 years.
The pending investigation involves the Nov. 8 shooting of Juan Ramos, who shot an Aurora police officer in the face during a shootout in 14500 block of E. 46th Ave. Ramos was killed in the shooting.
