A former Denver police officer eluded jail time for his role in a 2022 Lower Downtown Denver shooting, but a jury ruled Friday that he is still responsible for the damages he brought upon the victims of his two gunshots.

After an eight-day civil trial and 12 hours of deliberation, a Denver District Court jury found former Denver Police Department officer Brandon Ramos responsible for the physical and emotional damages he caused to six victims after he shot into a late-night LoDo crowd in July 2022.

The verdict award totaled nearly $20 million paid out to the six victims: $401,000 in economic damages, $6.75 million in non-economic damages, and $5.1 million in permanent impairment damages. Additionally, jurors awarded five of the six victims $1.5 million each in punitive damages.

“The jury sent a clear message to all law enforcement that this type of behavior won’t be tolerated in our community,” said Siddhartha Rathod, partner at the firm representing the plaintiffs, Rathod Mohamedbhai. “Law enforcement is here to serve and protect, and when law enforcement shoots into a crowd, it is unacceptable.”

Though Ramos declined to comment, Denver defense attorney Leonard Martinez said the jury’s verdict sends a chilling message to all law enforcement officers in Colorado. Martinez is related to Ramos.

“This whole case has been a continuation of injustice,” Martinez said. “Although the judgment is against Brandon, this puts the entire state of Colorado’s police officers on alert. Who in their right mind would want to be a police officer in this state?”

In the trial’s closing arguments Thursday afternoon, plaintiffs’ attorney Omeed Azmoudeh asked for $13 million in compensation for the physical and emotional injuries they suffered in the 2022 shooting. He represents Bailey Alexander, Ayla Bersagel, Mark Bess, Angelica Rey, Willis Small and Yekalo Weldehiwet.

The verdict came Friday afternoon in Denver District Judge Andrew McCallin’s courtroom.

The plaintiffs were among a crowd of people in LoDo around closing time in the early hours of July 17, 2022, and were injured after then-officer Ramos fired in the direction of then-21-year-old Jordan Waddy, a man who police were engaging after he started a fight outside Larimer Beer Hall and had a gun in his possession.

Azmoudeh argued during the closing statements that Ramos fired two bullets during the incident. One went through the back and arm of one plaintiff and into the arm of another. The second bullet hit a tree guard mid-flight before going through one plaintiff, hitting another’s leg and a third’s foot; shrapnel from its deflection burned the sixth plaintiff’s chest.

The jury ruled Friday that Bess, the sixth plaintiff burned in the chest by the shrapnel, would be awarded one dollar in physical impairment damages and would not receive any punitive damages.

The defense, led by attorney Peter Doherty, acknowledged that Ramos fired at least one bullet in the direction of Waddy and, ultimately, the plaintiffs, but argued that the second bullet found at the scene was not fired by the former officer. He also noted that Ramos was doing his duty as a police officer and was trying to detain armed felon Waddy.

Doherty declined to comment on the verdict Friday afternoon.

“Denver has paid the attorney fees for Officer Ramos for the last three years. Denver should be saying ‘we are responsible for this jury’s verdict holding one of ours accountable,'” Rathod said. “Denver should pay this.”

The shooting was spurred by a fight involving Waddy outside the beer hall just a few minutes after 1:30 a.m. Police confronted the man after the fight. Body camera footage shows Waddy taking his hands out of his pockets and putting them in the air, walking back toward the crowded sidewalk.

But police said Waddy did not comply with commands to come toward them, and as the man reached into his waistband and pulled out a 10mm Rock Island M1911 A2, officers deemed that he posed a “significant threat,” according to the affidavit for his arrest.

Officers then claimed he pointed the gun at them — footage shows he was actually trying to throw it away — and fired several shots at the man, hitting him and six other bystanders.

Ramos was the only one of three officers who opened fire to face charges in connection with the shooting. Officers Kenneth Rowland and Meagan Lieberson also fired rounds during the incident.

Ramos was indicted by a Denver grand jury in January 2023 on 14 different counts, including reckless second-degree assault, third-degree knowing or reckless assault, third-degree assault with negligence using a deadly weapon and five counts of reckless endangerment.

A year later, he took a plea deal that dropped all 14 counts against him in exchange for a guilty plea to a third-degree assault charge. The deal also gave him probation without jail time on the condition that he could never be a peace officer in the state again.

During Thursday’s hearing, Doherty argued that Waddy should be liable for some of the damages paid out to the plaintiffs, as he was partly responsible for the shooting that occured to begin with. The jury did not agree with the argument, placing 100% of the responsibility on Ramos.

Denver Gazette reporter Sage Kelley, City Editor Dennis Huspeni and former Denver Gazette reporter Carol McKinley contributed to this report.