 I'm going to chronologically break down yesterday's officer involved shooting, and then I'll let Chief Grotto have the mic, and then we'll open it up for questions. Yesterday morning, just before 7-10, there was a disturbance on an RTD bus. The individual that ultimately had the confrontation with officers created disturbance on the bus, we think somewhere in the area between Alameda and Lincoln and First and Lincoln. He was asked to get off the bus, it was reported to the transit officers, they then began a search for this individual, has he had caused some damage on the bus. In the area of Seventh and Lincoln, RTD transit officer spotted this individual, confronted him, was trying to get some compliance to talk to him, at which point the gentleman pulled out a weapon, and there was kind of an armed confrontation between the RTD officer and this gentleman that ultimately had the confrontation with the Denver police down the street. The officer was attempting to de-escalate, was asking him to drop the weapon. He refused, some other officers did show up at that time, they did not have any kind of lethal confrontation with him at that time. The individual then began to walk northbound on Lincoln, he was on the east side of the street, the area of 8th and Lincoln, he put the weapon in the air and shot one round into the air, at which time everybody recognized that it was what it was, it was an actual gun. They then, the RTD officer continued to follow, call out descriptions and at that time the communication was shifted over to our DPD, the Denver police officer, we're getting live information as to how this was transpiring. The RTD officer continued to give his locations and updates on the suspect's activity. Throughout this process between 8th and approximately 10th Avenue, the suspect was seen to be waving the gun around throughout this process, putting several people in jeopardy that were either driving by or in businesses or walking out of businesses, so that was of concern. The RTD officer was keeping us abreast of all that activity. Approximately 10th on Lincoln, he observed several Denver police officers coming into the area, at which time he disengaged and handed over that operation and incident to the Denver police officer, officers I should say. The Denver police officer that ultimately had the armed confrontation was the first to really get a gauge of where this individual was. The officer put himself in a tactical position on the east side, I correction, so he's on the east side of the street. The suspect was walking along the west side of the street, I correct myself, I think I said east earlier, but so he's walking along kind of adjacently, trying to determine if he sees the gun in his hand still. Probably as he's passing 10th, he realizes that he still has a gun in his hand. He then gives verbal, several verbal commands to this individual to drop the gun. The person verbally states no. We heard that on officers body warns, there might be some other video from other individuals in the area that would capture that same dialogue between the officer and the suspect. The officer was taking a lot of things into consideration while he's on that block. Obviously his concerns were traffic, foot traffic, and any citizens or that might be in any of these adjoining businesses along that block. He's constantly trying to gauge that because the sanctity of life and just being diligent in how we handle these situations is the most important to us. He did realize the traffic had been successfully shut down at which time he felt that it was an opportune time as this individual passed some businesses and had a backdrop of a vacant parking lot with just one or two cars in it that he decided that was the best time to confront him and at which time he had his rifle. He was armed with an AR-15, our officer. He found a point of cover behind a tree trunk and started to verbally engage the suspect. The suspect then turned around at one point, pulled up the gun, shot around into the air and then started to level the point of aim in the direction of the officer at which time the officer fired a couple of shots and that ended the confrontation. That's the breakdown chronologically. From the time that the officers got the call was approximately 7.10. They got the call of the shots fired in the area of 8th and Lincoln. First officers arrived on scene around 7.13 a.m. and the confrontation was ended by 7.15 a.m. So there was a very quickly evolving situation. So at this time, I'm going to pass the mic over to Chief Grotto and then we can open up for questions. Yeah, I think Chief did a great job covering it. The only thing I'll add is this initially started on the bus and it was reported to us through the RTD Transit Watch app. Our officer just happened to be very close in the neighborhood so we had a very quick response. I'm going to go ahead and open it up. It was a windshield was busted on the bus. Do you want to answer these or? I'll just say RTD, our Transit Police Division, we're a specialized unit and obviously we rely on partners such as the Denver Police Department. I don't want to speak since this is an active investigation. I'll let the Chief talk to that. And I really can't give you a factual answer on that whether or not he used a weapon to break the window. We just know the window was broken by this individual. Chief, do you use the term armed confrontation on the bus? Take it there or go shot spider? No. No. To our knowledge, he never produced the handgun on the bus at any time. Two. Two that were two live rounds. We did find some expended rounds that were not shot, which would indicate to us that he just was in racking the slide that these came popping out at some point along his travels. But two live rounds were shot that we know. Have you guys connected to going to many other crimes? We have not even got to that point in the investigation to see, but that is a very good question. As you know, we're very active in Seagick and Nivens so that will be a step that we will definitely look at. Thank you. That is a Denver police detective who happened to just, he was driving into work and he happened upon it. He wasn't even aware of what the situation was. So he jumped in and he too, like the RTD officer, recognized the threat but at the point made the decision not to pull the trigger because he did not feel that his life was in the level of jeopardy that he felt he needed to shoot the suspect at that time. How crucial was it to have that right there, right at the beginning of the investigation? It was very crucial because he was the eyes and ears, he bravely followed this individual in close proximity throughout this process. I am comfortable that at any point he felt somebody was in danger, a citizen that he probably would have taken the actions. But him being the eyes and ears and really guiding us in, we knew pretty much everything we needed to know at that point, the clothing that he had a weapon. So it was crucial that he did. And he too, like I said, he was continually gauging his activities along the route. So had there been something that, a dire that happened where he's confronting a citizen and they're in extreme danger, then I think he would have been in the position along with some of those other officers in the area to quickly act upon that. We don't know that we have not delved into how he got access that far. And it turns out you said that at one point when he was asked to drop, did he say anything else? No. It was just really direct, drop the weapon, no, drop the weapon, no, drop the weapon, no. Did he appear mentally? It's hard for me to state that. Obviously his actions were a little erratic. I can't state whether or not I can, without a doubt, say that the mental illness played a part in this. Does he have any history of it? Well, we're going to wait to delve into that. I can say he had minimal criminal history. We're still trying to locate family members, to notify them of the death before we disclose his name. We're working diligently to try to find someone. And at that point then we'll be able to disclose his background with us. Was the gun in the home woods? We do not know that yet. We're still trying to, we're trying to backtrack and figure out who his family was, if he had somewhere he stayed, if he was homeless. At this point, that's still part of the investigation piece. We're looking at it. I'm hoping within the next one to two days, like I said, we're diligently working with, to connect with family members. I think if we just are completely unable to do that, at which time the corner makes an identification, I think, in good faith to get the information out that we will disclose the name at that time. Eighteen years, no other history of ever having an armed confrontation in those 18 years with the Denver Police Department. And he is on administrative leave at this point. Three. Same way for you? Yes. An app? Was a member of the public your first? Yeah, it was actually a passenger on the bus that reported it to us. Can you explain how that works? RTD offers, you know, we have several methods to report to us. If there's a security or safety incident, one is this app. And through that, they can text message us. They can send pictures. It gives us GPS location and where they are. We've got over 25,000 subscribers to that app. So we like it. It helps us manage security on the system and gives our ridership the ability to kind of participate in the security of the transit operation, so. And you said the windshield was damaged. I assume we're not saying close proximity to the driver? Or was the driver not on the bus? Or how's your driver? The driver's fine. And yeah, it was the front windshield that was busted on the bus. Was the driver sitting in the driver's seat? I'll say this. The officer involved has been a police officer for 33 years. He came to us. No, with another agency, a large agency. And he's been with us for three and a half years. So internally, our transit police were post-certified police officers. We have the same training as any other law enforcement agency. Go through the same process and annual certification process. So he's doing good. He's doing okay. Obviously, this was a very tense situation. And he was challenged to something that, you know, I've been in law enforcement for 32 years. I've never had to face that. So I think he's handling it remarkably well. And we're just, we're giving him a little time away just to gather his thoughts and kind of, you know, best practices to do that. And we want to bring him back and, in good spirits, ready to perform. It did. It did. And I can't speak to how many. I do know that there were a lot of people who were provided to us to look at this throughout the process, you know, at the point of the confrontation between the officer and the individual and on the front end of it. So obviously, we evaluate all that to look for consistency in how everything happened. And it was helpful. And we did get some after the call, went out from the chief in the morning. So the suspect. I don't know if it was the suspect. I don't know if it was the suspect. I don't know if it was the suspect. I don't know if it was the suspect. I don't know. I believe it is. But I'd not. I'd have to take a look at the video. I have not seen the preview. Once everything is adjudicated, that's always a possibility. I can't speak to that right now. But the video shows the exchange of fire? Yeah, you see from the vantage point, it's obvious that the officer is firing the shots. And, you know, sometimes the body warrants a tricky with the position, especially when it's a rifle because sometimes that kind of blocks of you. I mean, you can put together what's happening based on the officer's verbal and what you can see of it. But sometimes you can't get a clear-cut picture because, especially like I said with rifles, that makes it a little difficult. Was the assessment hit three times? We're still trying to determine that. That to be part of the coroner's report for us. And with some of the video we saw? I am not sure. I know he was reported to have been carrying some baggage in the early on. It was reported as luggage. We do know he was carrying a bag with him. So I'm not sure what that is. Can you just speak about, like you mentioned earlier, brush our traffic. So many people heading into work and how differently if it wasn't for, you know, the RTA officer and that detective and working together? Right. I mean, it is such a critical and thank goodness it was as early as it was in the morning because you'd think 11 or noon in that area. You know, it would have been extremely difficult situation to handle. However, you know, having the RTD officer that close proximity and armed really did, I think, help manage the situation into which the Denver police were able to get in and take control of everything, including the traffic. You know, and we're not just talking about vehicle traffic, we're talking about foot traffic and making sure no one wanders into this area and isn't put in jeopardy. So was there video on the bus this person? Yes. Yeah, there is video on the bus. All of our, well, most of our buses do have high definition video. We have an investigations unit also that retrieves this video and packages it up, but that is given to the Denver police department for the investigation, so they are in control of that video at this time. Can you characterize which shows have you seen it? I have not seen it. Once we get to that point in the investigation. Yeah, at this time it's I'd like to have privacy for the officer obviously. This is a big deal. And of course it still is an open investigation for us.