Screenshot/Aurora Police
A chaotic scene and lack of information led to the death of Richard “Gary” Black, who was killed by police after defending his Colorado home from a naked intruder, Aurora Police Chief Nicholas Metz said during a Thursday press conference. Describing the “incredibly chaotic situation,” Metz said that when Black’s wife called 911, she told the operator that the intruder had a gun and provided no description of the attacker who was in the bathroom with her grandson. When police arrived to the scene, they saw a man holding a gun and a flashlight near bathroom, Metz said. Officers told him to put his gun down four times, but he didn’t comply. When Black—who had shot and killed the intruder after the man tried to drown his grandson in the bathtub—entered the main room of the house and started walking towards police, an officer shot him four times. He later died from his injuries at a local hospital. Police then found the intruder, Dajon Harper, dead on the bathroom floor and the grandson still alive in the bathtub. It then became clear to police that Black had shot Harper before police entered the scene. Metz told reporters that Black was hard of hearing, so he may not have heard officers’ orders to drop his weapon. The police chief also “strongly disputed” the notion that the officer involved in the shooting was acting recklessly, and said that he had completed all the required training to return to work after he was involved in another shooting in late June.