An investigation found that a Denver SWAT officer was hit by "friendly fire" during a confrontation with a fugitive last December.
A review letter released by the Denver District Attorney's Officer said that Technician John Ruddy was wounded by a fellow officer during the incident in which fugitive Phillip Munoz was shot and killed, according to KMGH-TV.
"It's not only devastating to the officer involved, it's also devastating to the police department," Denver Police Special Operations Unit Commander Patrick Phelan told the news station. "It was a dynamic situation."
Munoz was being sought for allegedly shooting his girlfriend on the evening of Nov. 6 and was considered to be armed and dangerous.
The SWAT team tracked the suspect to an assisted-living high-rise apartment building where he was supposed to be visiting his father and were monitoring the security cameras when they saw him leave the building. Multiple officers reported that he appeared to be wearing a sheriff's uniform shirt and had a gun on his hip.
As Munoz entered a silver Dodge Charger with his father and a woman, SWAT and metro K-9 officers began moving in to apprehend him.
He tried to flee officers and was later cornered by police vehicles, prompting a 20-minute standoff.
His father and the woman were safely removed from the vehicle as the standoff continued. Munoz's father said that his son told him: "I ain't stopping for nobody. We'll all die ... I will never go back to prison. They'll have to kill me."
Officers then shot "less than lethal 40mm impact sponge rounds" and a "noise flash diversionary device" to "get the suspect to surrender and were also used to break the heavily tinted windows that prevented officers from seeing inside the vehicle. Those efforts were unsuccessful.
As the standoff continued, Munoz was eventually able to escape the vehicle and jumped a fence while holding a gun.
In fear of his life, one of the officers fired three shots at the suspect, who fell to the ground. At the same time, he heard Ruddy yell out in pain across the yard and saw him fall to the ground.
After Ruddy was shot, officers dragged him to safety and and began to administer aid and was transported to a local hospital and later released.
The District Attorney's Office determined officers were legally justified for using deadly force against Munoz and that no policies were broken in the mistaken shooting of Ruddy.
