Denver’s top prosecutor has ruled that two city police officers were justified when they fatally shot a man who advanced on them holding what looked like a large knife, but turned out to be a kitchen honing rod. District Attorney John Walsh delivered that decision in a Feb. 10 letter to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas, closing his review of the Nov. 14, 2025, shooting in the 3200 block of South Parker Road. Officers fired a total of 11 rounds during the confrontation, and the man, later identified as 37-year-old Joseph Suddreth, died at a hospital.
Walsh wrote that Suddreth’s movements and the way he held the object made it reasonable for the officers to fear for their safety, and that “a delay to warn Suddreth and pause would have unduly placed Vasquez in greater danger,” according to the decision letter reported by the Denver Gazette. The DA concluded that Suddreth’s decision to move toward the officers with the object, instead of complying with commands or moving away, supported the finding that deadly force was reasonable under the circumstances.
Police had been dispatched just before 2 a.m. after a resident reported seeing someone rummaging in a shed on a patio, spotted through a doorbell camera, Denverite reported. Officers announced themselves and ordered the person to come out. The man initially raised his hands, then picked up a long object and began walking toward the officers, according to that account. Witnesses and investigators later said the object appeared similar to a large knife when Suddreth raised it above his head.
According to the DA’s description of the incident, Officer Whaylen Phares fired three shots, and Officer Michael Vasquez fired eight after Suddreth had taken about four steps from the patio’s edge, and many of the rounds hit him, as recounted by the Denver Gazette. Investigators later recovered a roughly 12-inch metal honing rod with a wooden handle at the scene, which officers said could reasonably be mistaken for a knife when it is brandished in low light.
What the DA found
Walsh concluded that the officers’ split-second decisions met Colorado’s legal standard for the use of deadly force, given the perceived threat, the distance between Suddreth and Officer Vasquez, and the rapidly unfolding encounter. He emphasized that the officers faced what he described as a tight tactical situation, with very little time to give a warning or pause before Suddreth could have used deadly force against them.
Officers and investigation
Both officers joined the Denver Police Department in 2024, and, according to earlier reporting by Denverite, the department has said one of them had previously been involved in another shooting. The initial response and subsequent review drew added attention because this incident took place within a short distance and time frame of another officer-involved shooting in the same neighborhood.
What residents should know
The DA’s decision letter is a key milestone, but it is not the final word. The case is still subject to internal and external review, and community members continue to question police tactics and the transparency of the process. Authorities have said they are gathering body-worn camera footage and other materials as part of the public record, which will provide more detail about how the early-morning encounter unfolded.
