The man shot and killed by an Aurora police officer Saturday was identified by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office Tuesday as 37-year-old Rajon Montrel Lee Belt-Stubblefield. 

Belt-Stubblefield was shot after being aggressive toward a police officer, presenting a threat to both him and witnesses in the area, Aurora Police Department Chief Todd Chamberlain said. He had a gun, but threw it on the ground when he got out of his car. 

The entire incident, from stop to shooting, happened over about 2-to-3 minutes, Chamberlain said. 

It began around 7:30 p.m. Saturday when the officer was using a radar gun to check for speeding and other traffic violations. He pursued Belt-Stubblefield with lights and sirens “for speeding and possibly a DUI,” Chamberlain said. 

Belt-Stubblefield did not stop, instead rear-ending a car and crossing over a median, where he hit another car around East 6th Avenue near Sable Boulevard. No other motorists were injured.

He then got out of the car with his hands down by his side and tossed a handgun on the ground before walking back toward the officer, who told him to stop, Chamberlain said.

Belt-Stubblefield’s son was present at the scene as were several other witnesses, and he tried to get them to pick up the gun, Chamberlain said, referring to Belt-Stubblefield’s multiple instances of motioning to the gun and saying “get the (expletive).”

The officer hit him and he raised his fist and said: “I’m ready for this, are you ready for this?”

As Belt-Stubblefield “aggressively” approached the officer, not listening to commands, the officer shot him.

“(The officer) did not choose this confrontation,” Chamberlain said. “It was the suspect’s actions that escalated and turned this into violence. Had the suspect not fled, crashed into other vehicles, thrown a gun, encouraged others to retrieve that gun, and advanced aggressively towards the officer, we would not be standing here today.”

The investigation is in its early stages, so there is still a lot of information police cannot release to the public, Chamberlain said. They will release body camera footage once the family has seen it.

“We also understand the broader context of what we are discussing today,” Chamberlain said. “The suspect was a Black male, Aurora remains under a consent decree designed specifically to address bias and force issues. We know that trust is fragile without question and take that very, very seriously.”

A family member of Belt-Stubblefield started a GoFundMe fundraiser Sunday to help their family honor his memory and lay him to rest.

Belt Stubblefield was “loved deeply by his family and friends,” the fundraising page says, and his loss has “left an immeasurable void in the lives of those who knew and loved him.”

Three lawsuits have been filed against Aurora Police Department this year involving uses of force. 

In late May, the family of Kilyn Lewis, 37, sued the department, claiming that Officer Michael Dieck’s lethal use of force against Lewis was not reasonable, was “willful and wanton,” and deprived him of his legal rights.

Lewis was unarmed while shot by Dieck on May 23, 2024, while officers were attempting to arrest Lewis on a warrant for attempting to commit first-degree murder in the shooting of a blind man.

Internal and external investigations done after the Lewis shooting deemed Dieck justified in the use of force.

Aurora was handed another lawsuit in early August following the fatal police shooting of Rashaud Johnson, who was unarmed and experiencing a mental health crisis, according to his family, when he was shot and killed by an APD officer.

The department was served with a third lawsuit in August for a tasing incident from May 2024, in which body camera video shows Aurora officers holding LaDarius Butler, a father of two children who were in the car at the scene, at gunpoint and taking him into custody. 

Charges against Butler were dropped and the lawsuit alleges the use of force against him was unnecessary.