Denver police shot and killed a man while responding to a burglary call early Friday morning after he allegedly threatened them brandishing a stake in his hand.

The incident took place around 2 a.m. in the 3200 block of South Parker Road. Police mistook the stake for some sort of large knife and opened fire, Denver Police Department Chief Ron Thomas said in a video briefing about the incident posted to social media later in the morning.

“(It) has a handle on it, is a shiny medal object,” Thomas said in the briefing. (It) is of significant length.”

Friday’s shooting was the second police shooting to take place within a quarter-mile radius in the past three weeks.

Two Denver Police officers originally responded to a burglary call placed by the homeowner who saw the burglar via a Ring camera attached to his property, Thomas said. He instructed police on exactly where the man was, directing them to a shed-like storage facility on the porch of his apartment.

When the officers arrived and found the man in the shed, he came out with what they believed to be some sort of large knife, Thomas said. After initially complying with their orders to put it down, placing the object on a nearby retaining wall, he again picked it back up and moved toward the officers, both of whom subsequently opened fire.

The man was taken to Swedish Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, Thomas said. The chief did not elaborate on or explain why the man would have moved toward police with the perceived weapon after initially following their instructions.

Just over two weeks ago, police opened fire at an alleged robber at a Maverik gas station less than a quarter mile away from Friday’s shooting.

During that incident, an robber armed with a semi-automatic handgun locked themselves in the gas station with two employees. Police charged through the door and fatally shot him, but not before one officer sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound to the leg.

Two clerks were also injured with shrapnel from the gunfire.

“Obviously, (it’s) quite coincidental that there was a shooting as a result of a robbery at occurred at the Maverick just up the street,” Thomas said during Friday’s briefing. “This is a completely separate incident, a burglary. I think that often there are property crimes that occur at large apartment complexes like this, so probably not uncommon. But I think this is a very safe area and a completely isolated incident.”

The two officers involved in Friday’s shooting are relatively new the department, and have only been on the job for a few years, Thomas said. Police had not yet identified the suspect at the time of the briefing.

The Denver Medical Examiner will identify the man pending family notification and an autopsy.

Colorado State Patrol, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the Denver Police Homicide Unit are investigating the case under the oversight of the Office of the Independent Monitor as per the normal officer-involved shooting protocol, Thomas said. Once the investigation is complete, the results will be turned over to the Denver district attorney’s office.