Mistaken Identity Blamed For Denver Officer-Involved Shooting

DENVER, CO -- Denver police officers on Monday shot two persons after a high-speed chase in an SUV from Aurora because they mistakenly believed the man in the passenger seat was escaped inmate Mauricio Venzor-Gonzalez, 23, a Denver police spokesperson said Thursday.

Commander Barbara Archer of the Denver Police Department identified the slain driver of the SUV as Steven Nguyen, 23. A passenger, Rafael Landeros, 23, was injured by police gunfire and taken to a hospital. He was treated, then taken to Adams County Jail.

The police chase ended Monday night in Denver near 41st Avenue and Albion Street, when the SUV "came to rest," Archer said. The two men in the car disobeyed police orders to "show their hands" and were "moving around looking for something," in the car, she said. Officers believing the passenger to be Venzor-Gonzalez, who was wanted for attempted murder, fired shots into the car. The driver then drove the car down an embankment and into a field, where officers followed and again shot weapons into the car, she said.

Officers then removed the two injured men from the vehicle. A loaded weapon was found in the car, which was stolen, she said. Archer said the two men in the car were identified as "associates of Venzor-Gonzales."

When asked by reporters if shooting the wrong people in a case of mistaken identity would be a "problem for the Denver police," Archer answered: "The officers were acting on information that Venzor Gonzalez was in the passenger seat, and based on his past [actions] as an attempted murderer, that justifies their actions."

Archer said the three officers who fired on the two men were District 2 patrol officers who had worked for the department between four and ten years. She said the officers would be taken off patrol duties while the shooting was investigated by the Aurora Police Department and the Denver County District Attorney's Office.

Body-camera footage exists of the shooting, Archer said, but it would not be available because the shooting was under investigation.

Venzor-Gonzalez is still at-large, Archer said, describing him as a "very dangerous individual."

"The community is not safe," she said.

Related: Denver Police Shoot 2 After High Speed Chase From Aurora

Related: Escaped Denver Inmate: Police Search Near Hospital

Image via Denver Police Twitter