Family Sues Aurora Police Officer Who Killed Unarmed Black Man After Tussle

The family of an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer as he walked toward the officer after a physical altercation sued the police officer Monday.

Aurora police Officer Brandon Mills shot and killed Rashaud Johnson, 32, on May 12 in a private parking lot near Denver International Airport, according to the lawsuit and the Aurora Police Department.

Mills shot Johnson, who was unarmed, as Johnson walked toward him with his hands at his side, about 45 seconds after the end of a physical alteration in which both the officer and Johnson tussled the ground, body-worn camera footage shows. They were separated by about 15 feet when Mills fired, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit alleges that Johnson was in the midst of a mental health crisis and that Mills never should have fired his gun.

“Officer Mills’s response to the 911 calls about Rashaud was botched from the start,” reads the complaint, which was filed in Adams County District Court on Monday.

Aurora police Chief Todd Chamberlain said in May that the officer tried to deescalate the situation before shooting Johnson, who was suspected of trespassing.

“The absence of a weapon does not mean that there is an absence of danger by any stretch of the imagination,” the chief said during a May news conference.

On May 12, Johnson had been walking barefoot around The Parking Spot at 19901 E. 56th Avenue for more than two hours when Mills arrived in response to repeated 911 calls from parking lot employees, who reported that Johnson seemed to be under the influence of drugs, that he was walking around the lot pulling on car doors, and, eventually, that he tried to fight employees.

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