Family members and a man who lives on the Denver block where a police officer shot a motorist Thursday night are raising questions about the death.
The family of Davlon Reagor, 37, gathered Sunday at the spot where he was killed, bringing flowers, balloons and grief. Police have yet to release the name of the dead driver, but aunts and other relatives said it was Reagor.
“He was not a criminal. He had made mistakes like we all do,” said Reagor’s aunt, Alberta Henderson, 48. “This could have been dealt with in a better way.”
Reagor, who had been classified as a habitual offender in Colorado courts, was behind the wheel of his girlfriend’s 1986 Ford Escort when a Denver police officer shot him.
After the shooting, Denver police released a statement saying that an officer had attempted to stop a speeding car about 10:25 p.m. Thursday.
The driver refused to stop, then lost control of his vehicle, according to the release.
The vehicle came to rest facing north on Lafayette Street, just a few feet south of East Fifth Avenue in Denver’s Country Club neighborhood.
Police said the officer got out of his cruiser and approached the vehicle. The suspect raced his engine, causing the officer to think he was about to be run over, so he fired several rounds into the windshield.
Police have not yet released the officer’s name. On Sunday, police spokeswoman Sharon Avendaño said there had been no pursuit. She had no further details on the incident.
Tom Scholten, 50, who lives on the block, said he heard gunshots about 10:30 p.m. and went to his window. He said he saw a Denver police cruiser parked at a 45-degree angle to the curb on Fifth Avenue about 15 to 20 feet from the corner of Lafayette.
The Ford was at a stop sign on Lafayette facing Fifth Avenue, and the officer was between the two vehicles with the gun still pointed at the windshield, he said.
“Why didn’t he run into the car or cut him off?” Scholten said.
Another man, Scott Davies, told CBS4 that he witnessed the shooting and even rammed Reagor’s car to keep him from getting away. He said Reagor revved his engine and refused to heed the officer’s orders before the officer fired numerous shots at Reagor.
“He continued to rev his engine, the officer asked him to comply. It appeared to me the suspect did not comply,” Davies told the TV station.
Family members questioned why there were no skid marks or other evidence that someone had been speeding near the intersection.
Reagor had been arrested 37 times since 1990. He had faced seven charges of escape and failure to appear, as well as arrests on charges involving drugs, theft and menacing, according to police records.
Reagor’s mother, Carol Braxton, said Reagor called her before he was shot and said that he had had a fight with his girlfriend and was planning to come to his mother’s home.
The girlfriend told Braxton that Reagor stole her car and her money and assaulted her before leaving her Denver home. Braxton said she thinks the girlfriend called police to report Reagor prior to the shooting.
Reagor was the third son Braxton has lost to violence. In 1995, Royce Reagor, 27, was stabbed to death at the Fremont Correctional Center.
In 1993, Tymone Reagor was killed after a gunman knocked on his door and asked for crack. The man shot him when Tymone grabbed for the gun, according to a news report of the time.
