Police released bodycam footage last week showing the exact moment officers barged their way into the back door of a 7-11 in Denver and gunned down a suspect who was holding a store clerk hostage with a nail-pulling tool.
The shooting occurred after 43-year-old Christopher Cauch barricaded himself and two others in the back of the convenience store on the evening of March 1, according to the New York Post.
Chief Ron Thomas told the Denver Post that four brave officers responded to reports of a stabbing and robbery at the convenience store. He said the store clerks were “under duress” in a back room.
The four cops were directed by staffers to the backroom.
The bodycam footage shows the police using a battering ram to open the reinforced door. Once they did so, they saw the suspect threatening one of the employees with the tool, which was later identified as a 6-inch metal nail-pulling shaft.
Police then unleashed a hailstorm of bullets at close range after Cauch defied orders to drop his weapon.
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Chief Thomas told the Denver Post that officers opened fire once they recognized that the clerk was in imminent danger.
According to the New York Post, Cauch died from his gunshot wounds at a local hospital. The hostages escaped unscathed despite the barrage of gunfire.
Denver Police Commander Matt Clark told KUSA-TV the cops 36 rounds in just five seconds at the suspect.
According to the local outlet, the four officers who saved the day were assigned to modified duty status pending the outcome of the investigation.
