Two Denver police officers were found justified in the fatal November shooting of a man suspected of burglarizing a home who approached them with a knife sharpening rod.

Officers Michael Vasquez and Whaylen Phares were deemed to have acted in a proper manner in defending themselves against what they perceived to be the immediate threat of 37-year-old Joseph Suddreth, who was advancing toward them with what appeared to officers to be a foot-long knife, Denver District Attorney John Walsh said in a Tuesday decision letter to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas.

“Suddreth’s conduct holding the weapon as he did and choosing to go forward with it toward officers who were issuing those urgent commands, instead of complying or going away from the officers, caused the officers to reasonably believe that he intended to use the sharpener as a deadly weapon to assault officer Vasquez,” Walsh wrote in the letter.

Police were first dispatched to the call of a burglary in progress in the 3200 block of South Parker Road just before 2 a.m. on Nov. 14, according to the letter. The caller saw through a security camera at her residence that a man was rooting through a shed on her patio.

When officers arrived, they saw the shed and a light that was moving around inside, confirming that someone was in it, according to the letter. Phares announced “Denver police” and told the person inside to “come out with your hands up.”

The man, later identified as Suddreth, came out of the shed and initially raised his hands, according to the letter. Then, without warning, he began walking toward the edge of the patio — in the direction of the officers — with both hands above his head, and holding what appeared to be a long knife in his left hand.

“Drop the knife! Drop the knife,” Phares shouted, according to the letter.

Suddreth moved the object into his right hand and momentarily placed it on a waist-high wall at the edge of the patio before quickly picking it up again, according to the letter. He then stepped off the patio and moved in the direction of Vasquez.

The man continued to walk toward the officers with the object. After he had taken four steps from the patio’s edge, both officers opened fire on Suddreth, according to the letter. In total, Phares fired three shots and Vasquez eight.

During his interview as part of the police shooting investigation, Phares said that he thought “something was off” with Suddreth and that the man’s movements “weren’t consistent with a sober person,” according to the letter. He also noted how the suspect did not say a word to the officers throughout the encounter.

Both officers said that Suddreth was within striking distance of Vasquez when they opened fire, according to the letter. Both officers joined the department in 2024, and one had been involved in a prior police shooting.

“I think that someone moving toward you with an object like that looks very much like a knife and could provide lethal results, I would expect the officer to defend himself in that situation,” said Thomas at a news conference in the days after the shooting took place.

Walsh agreed with Thomas’ initial sentiment.

“Since Suddreth could have quickly charged forward, very quick decisions had to be made by the officers,” Walsh said in the letter. “A delay to warn Suddreth that they would discharge their firearms and then pause for him to observe the warning would have unduly placed Vasquez in greater danger.”