A Denver police SWAT officer seriously wounded during the fatal shooting of a wanted suspect in December was struck by friendly fire, a report released Friday by prosecutors says.
From forensic evidence and the positions of the officers involved in the encounter, investigators believe Technician John Ruddy was struck in the upper leg by a round fired from the rifle of a fellow officer, District Attorney Mitch Morrissey wrote in a letter to Denver's police chief.
The report said the round likely passed through 35-year-old Philip Munoz, the suspect killed in the encounter, before hitting Ruddy, the Denver Post reports.
The shooting happened on Dec. 2 in the city's Sloan's Lake neighborhood as tactical officers were trying to arrest Munoz.
Munoz was sought on a warrant issued out of Adams County for shooting his ex-girlfriend and in another case in which he allegedly kidnapped and attempted to shoot another ex-girlfriend.
The warrant was being served by the FBI's Rocky Mountain Safe Street's Task Force, comprised of federal, state and local officers, who requested assistance from the Denver Police Department's SWAT team.
