He Stopped A Gunman During A Mass Shooting — The Cops Killed Him Anyway
He was a hero.
Facebook / Arvada Police Department On June 21, 2021, a man named Ronald Troyke opened fire and killed a police officer in Arvada, Colorado, causing passersby to flee into the safety of restaurants, behind dumpsters, and flood the Jefferson County emergency call center.
One man decided that instead of waiting for the police response time that would be followed by a slow, careful search, he would take matters into his own hands with the concealed handgun held in the waistband of his pants.
After saving the people of Arvada, Colorado from a mass shooting, John Hurley was murdered by the police.
“Johnny was a hero,” tweeted Spike Cohen, who brought back the memory of Good Samaritan Hurley as we near the one-year anniversary of his death.
RELATED: Harmony Montgomery's Family Told To 'Prepare For The Worst' As FBI Remove Fridge From Father's Home
“[He] was a hero, even before he saved lives,” he continued. “The Arvada government isn't fit to clean his shoes, and we will not rest until the impediments to holding government accountable for their crimes are removed.”
When the shooting occurred, it appeared as if Troyke himself, who was about to commit mass murder, had shot and killed Hurley.
After Arvada Police responded to the scene, an officer identified as Kraig Brownlow, claimed to have killed the shooter, who was then revealed to be Hurley.
"Officers that day saw a mass shooter, heard many rounds of gunfire in broad daylight in the heart of Old Town Arvada," First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King told reporters. "Thus, the officer's decision to shoot John Hurley was legally justified despite his heroic actions that day."
“For days, the @cityofarvada tried to make it sound like Johnny had been killed by the shooter,” Cohen tweeted, “but after multiple FOIA requests and investigations, they finally owned up to the fact that their officers killed him.”
According to Cohen, officers didn’t try to positively ID Hurley or ask him to lay down his firearm, but shot and killed him first.
Video footage of John Hurley's death was released months later, showing the incident that played out in a matter of minutes.
Officer Gordon Beesley was responding to a report from Troyke’s brother that the gunman was having a suicidal episode, according to Denver Post, and left a note at home claiming that he intended to kill "as many Arvada officers as I possibly can."
Unable to find Troyke at home, Beesley then responded to a call about a suspicious individual roaming the streets of Arvada.
Strolling casually through a parking lot, looking for the suspect, Troyke pulls up in a black pick-up truck, runs up behind Beesley with a shotgun, and opens fire.
Passersby duck for cover behind cars, while the view switches to Hurley in the middle of shopping, looking for where the shots came from.
Quickly and without a second thought, Hurley pursues the suspect, following the noise, before he takes cover behind a brick wall that Troyke is walking toward — not far from the body of the officer.
Once the gunman was close enough, Hurley fired six bullets into Troyke with his concealed-carry-permitted handgun, killing him, and saving the rest of the town from assured disaster.
“On this day, I ask that you take a moment to remember Johnny's heroism,” tweeted Cohen, “and the absolute travesty in how his killing was handled by the Arvada government.”
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Since graduating from Rutgers University, he spends most of his free time gaming or playing a fictional sport. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.