Aurora officer told 14 -year-old ‘Get your hand off the gun’ before he fired, police chief said

By Carol McKinley, Special to the Denver Gazette June 7, 2023 | updated 3 years ago

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Jor'Dell Richardson (center) with mom, Laurie Littlejohn, and his older brother. The 14-year-old was shot and allegedly killed by Aurora Police June 1 after allegedly robbing an Aurora vape store with several teens.
Courtesy of Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC

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Representatives of Jor’Dell Richardson’s family met with Aurora Police Tuesday and reviewed the “disturbing” police body worn camera footage of his death.

The 14-year-old was shot and killed by Aurora Police June 1 after he and a group of teens allegedly robbed a vape shop, according to police.

Richardson’s grandmother, aunt, mother, his mother’s boyfriend and a family friend were among those who met with Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo, but not all of them viewed the footage, according to family legal representative, Siddartha Rathod. Rathod said that he also witnessed the video.

Earlier Tuesday, Acevedo told the Aurora Key Community Response Team (AKCRT) in a public meeting that audio from the video footage reveals that the officer who allegedly shot Richardson said: “Get your hand off the gun, or words to that nature,” Acevedo said.

Aurora police said one officer shot Richardson during a struggle and that he was carrying a semi-automatic handgun in his waistband. Police said Richardson and multiple suspects threatened a female convenience store clerk at a store on East 8th Avenue and Dayton Thursday.

Police declined to release the officer’s name and he is on paid administrative leave.

The incident began at 4:20 p.m. Thursday when an Aurora Police patrol officer noticed Richardson and several other teens wearing medical masks and hooded sweatshirts approaching the store. As the officer radioed for help, the group went inside and ran out of the store with multiple vape cannisters, according to police.

During Tuesday’s citizen meeting, Acevedo said that Jor-Dell was shot in the stomach and not in the back — as the boy’s family has speculated. He also revealed that the female store clerk at the convenience store told investigators that Richardson was the only one in the group who had a gun.

“Whatever the situation was, my son did not have to get murdered,” Laurie Littlejohn told Denver Gazette’s news partner 9News. “Take different measures when they coming upon a Black young teenager. React like it was their own kid.”

This afternoon, Chief @ArtAcevedo met with counsel and family representatives for Jor’Dell Richardson to review body-worn camera footage of the officer involved shooting that occurred June 1, 2023.C.R.S. 24-31-902 requires the department to wait 72-hours to publicly release… pic.twitter.com/MwwpsZsejO

— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) June 6, 2023

In their tweet, Aurora Police said that they would release more information at a press conference Friday afternoon.

Aurora Police tweeted that “C.R.S. 24-31-902 requires the department to wait 72-hours to publicly release body-worn camera footage after providing the information to the family.”

The investigation is in the hands of a Critical Incident Response Team. Aurora Police have initiated a separate internal investigation into the shooting.

Investigative sources, who asked not to be identified as they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, told the Denver Gazette that there are two body-worn camera videos, one lasting 11 minutes and the other, 15 minutes, and that the CIRT has surveillance camera footage which also recorded Jor’Dell’s death, but from different angles.

AKCRT meets monthly to address community safety and critical community events. Meetings are open to the public and held the first Tuesday of every month at 8 a.m.

A GoFundMe to help pay funeral expenses has been set up by Richardson’s father, Jameco Richardson.

Visitation is scheduled for the 14-year-old for June 15 and 16 at Pipken Braswell Funeral Home.

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Tags Art Acevedo Aurora Police Jordell Richardson Officer Involved Shooting

Carol McKinley, Special to the Denver Gazette

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