In the early morning hours of November 9, 2012, a tragic series of events unfolded in Lakewood, Colorado, culminating in the death of 35-year-old male police agent James Jeffery Davies. A dedicated officer with the Lakewood Police Department for six and a half years, Davies was a husband and a father to two young children.
That morning, officers, including Davies, were responding to a report of a prowler near 19th Avenue and Eaton Street when they heard gunfire coming from a nearby house. They observed a man, later identified as Joe Anthony Ruiz, firing a handgun from the front of the residence. Ruiz and two other individuals were taken into custody. As officers worked to secure the area, the situation took a devastating turn.
While helping to establish a perimeter around the house, Davies was tragically mistaken for an armed suspect by a fellow officer, Devaney Braley. Braley, who was positioned on the opposite side of a fence from Davies, reportedly shouted for the person he saw to drop their weapon. When Davies did not, presumably not realizing the command was directed at him, Braley fired his weapon. Agent Davies was fatally wounded at the scene.
In the aftermath of the shooting, it was determined that no criminal charges would be filed against Officer Braley, as the district attorney deemed the shooting a tragic accident. Ruiz, the man who had initially been firing his weapon, faced charges related to the illegal possession of a firearm. The family of James Jeffery Davies later filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Lakewood, which was eventually settled out of court. The incident prompted the Lakewood Police Department to implement numerous changes to its policies and procedures to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.
