District attorney says Denver officer shot by friendly fire

Investigators say a Denver police officer wounded during a shooting last year was struck by friendly fire.

District Attorney Mitch Morrissey wrote in a report released Friday that an officer’s bullet passed through a suspect’s body and into Technician John Ruddy’s leg. The suspect, 35-year-old Philip Munoz, was killed in the December shooting, but Ruddy’s injury was not life-threatening.

Munoz was wanted in connection with a shooting and attempted kidnapping. Morrissey says two officers were justified in killing Munoz because he refused to drop his handgun. The report says that Munoz even held the gun in his mouth and climbed over a 6-foot fence in an effort to flee.

The officers also won’t face charges for shooting Ruddy, who told investigators he knew he had wrongly put himself in the crossfire.