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Week of January 19, 2023
ADAMS & JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
WestminsterWindow.com
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 13
Thornton police release body camera video from shooting
Our in-depth look at the housing crisis
BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Trickling up: How housing is becoming less affordable for more Coloradans BY TAYLER SHAW AND LUKE ZARZECKI COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
A home means everything to Shelley Gilson, a 50-year-old single mother of three girls who works as a guest service agent at an airline. “It’s one word: priceless,” she
said. The rising cost of housing in the Denver area has made it difficult for her to afford a home. She spent years bounding around working for low pay, including to several affordable housing communities across the state.
INSIDE: CALENDAR: PAGE 11 | VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 13 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
Eventually, more than a decade ago, she found a home at Orchard Crossing Apartments in Westminster. It is an affordable housing community that includes Section 8 housing, the federal government program that provides vouchers to low-income families, the disabled and elderly. SEE TRICKLING UP, P14
Thornton police have released a video showing the moments before an officer shot a man on Interstate 25 last fall. The video shows several officers responded to 911 calls that the man, later identified as Darylray Lopez, 29, of Denver, was walking on the highway, causing cars to swerve. The video from the Sept. 5, 2022, incident shows an officer approaching Lopez, whose face is blurred out, on the opposite side of the concrete barrier in the middle of the highway that divides traffic. “Do you need help?” the officer asks. “Do you need an ambulance?” The man backs away from the barrier and then turns toward a second officer on the other side of the barrier. The video shows the man approaching with what the officer believes to be a weapon. “Put it down!” the officer yells. “Put it down, now! Put the knife down!” The man raises his arms and continues to approach the officer who shoots three times at the man. The department released the footage, showing three officers’ perspectives, as part of a recorded briefing on You Tube on Jan. 12. The video includes an explanation from the department that the case remains under investigation. Police Officer Arthur Brown was placed on leave after the shooting. Officer Jesus Mendez, a public information officer, said in the video that the case is being investigated by the 17th Judicial District. “Our understanding of this incident may change as additional SEE POLICE, P3
RAVENS BASKETBALL Riverdale Ridge
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