Juan Ramos, 23, male, died on November 8, 2016, after being shot by police outside a home near East 46th Avenue in Denver's Montbello neighborhood. Officers from Aurora and Denver had converged on the address as part of an active investigation when Ramos walked out carrying a child's car seat and placed a baby in a vehicle. As officers moved in, Ramos drew a handgun and opened fire; an Aurora officer was struck in the face and survived.
Several officers returned fire, and Ramos died at the scene. His identity and age were confirmed by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, and police said he fired first.
Detectives later detailed why officers approached Ramos that morning: they believed he was the suspect in a separate shooting earlier that day in Aurora that left Antonio Norwood mortally wounded. Witnesses and a license plate number tied the earlier attack to Ramos, and investigators coordinated across agencies before moving to contain him at the Montbello address. According to the district attorney's summary, Ramos fired multiple rounds, while officers fired back, ultimately killing him and ending the immediate threat with a child nearby.
The Denver District Attorney's Office conducted a legal review and concluded the shooting was justified under Colorado law. In a decision letter and public briefing, District Attorney Beth McCann explained that the officers acted in self-defense and in defense of others given that an officer had just been shot and Ramos continued to pose a deadly threat. As a result, no officers were arrested or charged in connection with Ramos's death; instead, prosecutors publicly released their decision and hosted a community meeting in Montbello to walk residents through the findings and answer questions.
Initial same-day reporting captured the fast-moving investigation and confirmed that the suspect in the Montbello confrontation had been killed and an officer wounded, with schools in the vicinity temporarily locked down as the scene was secured. Those early details were later borne out by the DA's review and subsequent identification of Ramos by the medical examiner. There have been no additional suspects or arrests connected to Ramos's death beyond the officers whose actions were reviewed and cleared.
