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Multiple callers had reported 57-year-old R. S.was at the bus stop on Eubank near Copper NE one August afternoon. They said he was armed with a gun, tossing it from hand to hand, “pulling the action back” and pointing it at traffic.

By the time 5 officers approached him, fanned out in formation with their guns drawn, he was lying on the sidewalk, his arms over his eyes, using his belongings as a pillow.

But the situation quickly changed, and 3 cops ended up firing at least 15 rounds at him as they say he grabbed the gun stashed in his waistband.

The gun turned out to be a semi-automatic BB pistol resembling a 9 mm handgun.

Lt. Scott Norris of the Violent Crimes Section said that around 3 p.m. Aug. 22 several officers were sent to the heavily populated, high-traffic area near the Walmart shopping center for reports of a man pointing a gun at passersby. He said the officers made a plan and approached him on foot.

“Officers wanted to avoid alerting the subject to police presence, fearing this would cause him to react adversely,” Norris said.

“These fears were based on the information the officers received about the subject’s unpredictable and erratic behavior. Officers made the decision to use their own bodies as a wall between the armed male and the public.”

Video shows the officers approaching and ordering him to keep his hands in view. He curses at them, and, instead, pushes himself up to the bench, appearing to grab the gun tucked into his waistband.

That’s when one officer shot him with a 40 mm rubber bullet, a less lethal option. Less than a second later, officers Paul Durham, Kyle King and Randy Serrano also opened fire, killing him. He died at the scene.

Norris said the officers found a BB gun tucked into the front of his pants.

Durham has been with the department since 2011, King since 2010 and Serrano since 2017. Durham and King are assigned to the SWAT team, and Serrano is an officer in the Northeast Area Command. None had been involved in prior shootings.

Norris said APD will continue to investigate the shooting and interview any additional witnesses who come forward. When the investigation is complete, it will be sent to the Force Review Board – a committee that APD was required to create as part of the reform effort process with the Department of Justice.