The man shot and killed by Denver police on Nov. 20 after chasing people in Commons Park with an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle and shooting at officers had more than 400 rounds of ammunition on him, Denver Police Department officials said Wednesday.
Police responded to calls of a man with a rifle yelling at a group of people and chasing people near 16th and Platte streets at 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 20.
Officers located the man, later identified by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner as 42-year-old Joshua Mitchell, sitting on a park bench with the rifle, Cmdr. Matt Clark said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Officers in two police vehicles parked approximately 100 feet from Mitchell, one on a hill and one on a nearby path, Clark said. Body-worn camera footage shows the officer on the hill commanding Mitchell to drop his weapon before Mitchell started firing at the officer, who returned fire.
Two officers fired seven rounds during the shooting, Clark said. Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators have not found evidence that Mitchell had a larger plan, Clark said, but are still working to obtain information from his cell phone and social media accounts.
That seems to be a motive in and of itself these days.