The Aurora police officer who fatally shot an unarmed 17-year-old at a gas station in September was deemed to have used justifiable deadly force by District Attorney Amy Padden in a letter Friday.
In the letter to Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain, Padden stated that she found Officer Derek Paulson “justified in using deadly physical force to defend himself and others” when he shot Blaze Balle-Mason.
The shooting happened Sept. 18 at a Conoco gas station, 290 S. Havana Street in Aurora, when officers responded to a call from Balle-Mason saying he was armed and going to “shoot the place up,” the decision letter said…