Colorado man shot dead by police who mistook him for intruder he just killed

“This is a very heart­break­ing and tragic sit­u­a­tion for every­one involved,” Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz said in a statement.

A Viet­nam War vet­eran defend­ing his home from an intruder was shot and killed by police who mis­took the man for the assailant, Col­orado author­i­ties said Tuesday.

Police responded early Mon­day to a call made by a woman who said a man had bro­ken into her home, accord­ing to police in Aurora, a sub­urb of Denver.

When an offi­cer arrived, he heard a gun­shot fired inside the res­i­dence. Once he entered the home, the offi­cer found “a very chaotic and vio­lent scene,” accord­ing to the statement.

While inside, the offi­cer saw the armed res­i­dent, whom the offi­cer then fatally shot. The offi­cer then cleared the house to secure the scene.

The man shot by the offi­cer, iden­ti­fied by a fam­ily mem­ber to NBC affil­i­ate KUSA of Den­ver as Richard Black Jr., 73, was trans­ported to a hos­pi­tal, where he died.

“This is a very heart­break­ing and tragic sit­u­a­tion for every­one involved,” Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz said in a statement.

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