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Denver, Colorado — On August 5, 2023, around 8:00 p.m., The Denver Police officers were called to the 2300-block of West Cedar Avenue for a domestic violence report. A 911 caller told dispatchers that a man, identified as 36-year-old man, Brandon Cole, had possibly pushed his wife out of a wheelchair and was “going after” his teenage son. A male and female officer arrived and saw a woman propping herself up in a gutter with a wheelchair nearby.

Officers then spotted Cole by a vehicle and suspected he was armed with a knife. Cole was observed reaching into the driver’s area of a vehicle that was parked. He acted threateningly towards one officer who attempted to user a taser to restrain him but it didn’t work.

When the subject stepped away from the vehicle he began challenging a uniformed officer who was directly in front of him by taking an aggressive stance and yelling ‘Let’s go,’. He then changed direction and walked toward a second officer who asked him to stop. Cole did not stop and was shot as he appeared to advance upon the officer.

Behind Cole, and in the line of fire, were two bystanders, a child and a woman, who were not injured. The officers applied multiple tourniquets and gave him chest compressions until medics could rush him to a hospital in an ambulance. Cole was pronounced dead at the hospital. He was the father of three children aged 13, 8 and 7-years-old. After the investigation, It turned out Cole only had a black marker in his hand.