Protesters Demonstrate Outside Police Station After Shooting Death Of Teen
DENVER (CBS4)- Dozens of protesters gathered outside a police station in Denver on Wednesday to protest the shooting death of a teenage girl who was shot and killed by officers while she was behind the wheel of a stolen car.
Before heading to District 2 Police Headquarters, the protesters rallied outside the Denver jail.
The crowd wanted to meet with police and on Wednesday evening, they got that opportunity to have their concerns about the death of Jessie Hernandez heard.
Hernandez, 17, was shot and killed about 6:30 a.m. on Monday when two Denver police officers responded to an alley near East 25th Avenue and Newport Street, where a stolen vehicle was spotted.
Authorities say the officers approached the car and Hernandez used the car to hit one of them in the leg.
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The officers involved have been identified as Daniel Greene, a 16-year veteran and Gabriel Jordan, a 9-year veteran. Both are assigned as Patrol Officers in District 2 and are currently on administrative leave.
The other girls in the car say they weren't threatening the officers, "We were backing up because a cop car was in front of us and we started backing up and he started shooting."
The officer Hernandez struck with her car suffered a leg injury but it was not broken.
Hernandez's death is being examined by the Independent Monitor along with three other officer-involved shootings in the past seven months. Those include a Jan. 9 incident in Montbello when police fired on a suspect, Sharod Kindell, after an officer was struck by a car; in Commerce City in November 2014, a Denver police officer shot two people fleeing in a car; and the death of Ryan Ronquillo in July 2014 who died after officers opened fire as he struck an officer with his vehicle while trying to speed away from a funeral home.
In the Montbello incident, police said Kindell survived after being shot several times.
"Why did you have to pull out a gun and shoot?" asked Kindell's aunt Shauna Landrum.
Kindell's family was among dozens who gathered outside the police station. Until tonight they say they've not been able to see him.
"There's a lot of work to be done... I can't even talk right now," said Kindell's mother Sherry Kindell.
Interim Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins addressed the crowds' concerns in an effort to be transparent, "I will make sure we look into every single one of those."
