Police Brutality / Individual record
Chan Leith
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Chan Leith in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2015-12-21 in Aurora, CO. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-329
- Incident date
- December 21, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Aurora, CO
- Agency
- Aurora Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 25
What happened
Chan Lieth (also rendered Chan Leith in some records) died when Aurora, Colorado, police officers shot him after a vehicle encounter outside a 7-Eleven on December 21, 2015. Police said they recognized a stolen Jeep and approached it at the store. According to the district attorney's case review, the driver reversed into a patrol car and then drove the Jeep over parking barriers toward a pedestrian walkway. Officers fired during the confrontation. The prosecutor declined to file charges, concluding the officers' actions were justified by the perceived threat. Westword's analysis reproduced portions of the decision and surveillance images, allowing comparison between officers' stated perceptions and the vehicle's movement. The inconsistent spelling of Lieth's name should be checked against official case records.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1113
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 21
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset