WESTMINSTER, COLORADO: Family and community are mourning the death of Alysha Duran, who was fatally shot by a Colorado cop after she stopped on the wrong side of the road and allegedly reached for a handgun when the officer approached her.
The 46-year-old Duran was shot on July 25 after a police officer, only identified as N Adams, came to a stop to inspect a parked silver SUV, which was facing the wrong direction on 88th Avenue at Lamar Drive.
A harrowing bodycam footage, released by the Westminster Police Department, showed how Adams found Duran sitting alone with a stone face when he approached her SUV.
Initially, Duran appeared to ignore Adams when he asked her to roll down her window. After a while, she finally complied with the officer but remained silent as he tried to ask her if she was okay and what she was doing on the road.
Why did N Adams shoot Alysha Duran?
Duran then grabbed her pendant necklace and started caressing it as Adams remarked that she didn't appear to be under the influence of alcohol.
The exchange swiftly escalated after Adams allegedly saw Duran pull out a handgun. ''What have you got in there? What have you got in there? Oh f***,'' the officer can be heard screaming after discovering the firearm.
The cop who was visibly distressed in the video immediately darted behind her vehicle and fired four shots. One of the shots smashed the rear driver's side window and fatally struck Duran.
The bullet passed through her and ended up in the windshield of a bystander’s car. The bystander was unharmed in the shooting.
Duran was immediately rushed to a local medical facility but was pronounced dead when she arrived. Authorities later confirmed that a gun was found in Duran’s car.
The Westminster Police Department later confirmed that Adams has since been placed on compensated leave as the 17th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team continues to investigate the shooting.
The community prays for Alysha Duran’s family
Duran’s family is undoubtedly heartbroken by the tragic loss but has continued to maintain silence while mourning the loss of their loved one.
One social media user asked the community to pray for Duran’s devastated family. "Please please join me in praying for the family of Alysha Duran and the police officer who shot and killed her,” the user expressed.
“The officer was overcome with such sorrow and and emotion,” the user said before adding “We don’t know, and may never know what led Ms. Duran’s actions/thinking. Suicide by cop? Drug/alcohol abuse? Deep depression or other mental health issues? We simply do not know. What we do know is a tragedy resulted in the loss of one life and seriously affected another. Again, prayers are needed for all.”