DPD officer pleads guilty for LoDo shooting

A former Denver Police Officer involved in a 2022 shooting in the Lower Downtown neighborhood that left seven people injured, including six bystanders, entered a plea agreement Tuesday.

Brandon Ramos pleaded guilty to third degree assault for recklessly shooting into a dense crowd. He received 18 months probation and can no longer maintain his Colorado POST certification required to be an officer.

“We are very grateful to the (Denver) DA (Beth McCann) for taking the grand jury’s findings seriously and bringing charges against Officer Ramos,” said Ciara Anderson, a lawyer with Rathod-Mohamedbhai, LLC., who represented Bailey Alexander, Yakalo Weldehiwet and Willis Small IV, who were all shot that night. “And any plea here is a step towards accountability. It signals to all law enforcement officers that when they commit crimes, they have to be held responsible.”

Denver Police were near 20th and Larimer streets around 1:30 a.m. as patrons were leaving bars in LoDo in July. Three officers were in pursuit of 21 year-old suspect Jordan Waddy, who had been involved in a fight with another person on the street.

Officers say Waddy disregarded verbal commands and pulled out a black semiautomatic pistol from his pocket and pointed it at them. Officers fired several rounds towards him, which injured six bystanders. Waddy did not fire his gun at officers.

Ramos was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month. He was originally charged with two counts of second degree assault for recklessness, three counts of third degree assault for recklessness, three counts of assault, negligence with a deadly weapon, one count of prohibited use of a weapon, and five counts of reckless endangerment. The two other officers were not charged.

Waddy was also injured in the shooting. He was later charged with three counts of possession of a weapon by a previous offender and one count of third degree assault. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit possession of a weapon by a previous offender. He faces 15 months to 3 years in prison on the conviction. He will be sentenced on January 30th.

Alexander commended Ramos for personal accountability, but said victims would like to see the Denver Police Department hold itself more accountable in the future.

“Looking at the system as a whole, that’s what really needs to change,” Alexander said. “Until Denver (is) willing to say, our officer messed up here, something needs to change, That’s not what happened here.”

A civil suit has been filed against Ramos. Damages sought by the victims have not been determined.

“It’s really regrettable that Denver officials have minimized the profound trauma that has been inflicted on the victims in this case up to this point. Nothing is going to undo the events of July 17th, 2022,” Alexander said. “Denver owes it to the community to be better and to do better and to really look internally in how they can meet the community’s needs. Because firing into a crowd, whether you’re a police officer or not, is a crime and it’s absolutely not acceptable.”

To view the article in it’s entirety, visit denverite.com.