On August 8, 2018 at approximately 5:11 p.m., San Diego Police received a 911 call reporting an assault with a machete. Witnesses reported seeing Mr. Denham attack another male in the head and torso with a machete. Officer Pitts responded to the call and advised dispatch he was making contact with a person matching the description of the suspect. As Pitts was getting out of his vehicle, Denham ran up to the car and swung a four-foot long metal chain striking Pitts' police car. Pitts got out of the car and ordered Denham to drop the chain. Denham refused and began walking towards Pitts while swinging the chain. Pitts deployed his Taser, which was ineffective in stopping Denham. Pitts continued to retreat from Denham for a block and a half to keep from being struck with the chain. As Denham continued to close the distance between he and Pitts, Pitts fired two rounds from his duty weapon striking Denham. Denham was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
SDPD
<bdo lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:YouTube_files" title="Commons:YouTube files">YouTube</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIGvA1XmcbM"><bdi lang="">Bodycam Footage Of San Diego Officer Shooting Man Swinging Chain</bdi></a> – View/save archived versions on <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIGvA1XmcbM">archive.org</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIGvA1XmcbM">archive.today</a></bdo>