Boulder police chief says officers trapped in stairwell with machete-wielding man before shooting

BOULDER, Colo. – Boulder’s police chief says the two officers who shot and killed a machete-wielding ex-Marine on Oct. 5 were trapped in a stairwell with the man when they shot him.

Boulder Police Department Chief Greg Testa told Boulder’s city council that Brandon Simmons, 28, ignored the two officers’ commands to drop his weapon and darted toward them when the officers decided to shoot, according to a report from Denver7’s news partners at the Boulder Daily Camera.

Simmons died in the shooting. The two officers are from different departments – one is from the University of Colorado Police Department and the other is a Boulder Police Department officer. A total of 14 CUPD officers and nine BPD officers responded to the scene that day.

“He cussed or made statements to them that would indicate he wasn’t going to comply, and he started advancing towards them,” Chief Testa told the council, according to the Daily Camera. “Both the officers were trying to back down the stairs as they’re yelling with him, and the distances got so close that they ended up shooting their weapons.”

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office’s Critical Incident Team continues to review the shooting. The two officers were placed on standard administrative leave after the shooting.