DENVER – The Denver Uber driver who is accused of shooting and killing one of his passengers early Friday morning has had his access to the app revoked, the company says, but he never should have had a gun in the vehicle in the first place, per company policy. Uber confirmed Thursday afternoon that Michael A. Hancock, 29, who faces investigation on a first-degree murder charge for the shooting, had access to the app for nearly three years before Friday’s shooting and that the shooting appears to have occurred during an on-app trip. But Uber has a firearms prohibition policy, which states that “Uber prohibits riders and drivers from carrying firearms of any kind in a vehicle while using our app (to the extant applicable by law).” “Anyone who violates this policy may lose access to Uber,” the company’s policy, which is part of its community guidelines, states. “We are deeply troubled by the events in Denver today,” an Uber spokesperson told Denver7 Friday. Hancock has a history of traffic infractions in Colorado in recent years, and he was charged with driving under restraint and a speeding infraction on April 21 in Douglas County, according to state court records. Friday’s shooting is the latest of several incidents in Colorado involving the ridesharing company in recent years. In 2015, Colorado regulators re-examined the background check process that Uber and other ridesharing companies use after one Uber driver was accused of trying to burglarize a Denver passenger's home and another Uber driver was accused of sexually assaulting a passenger in Denver. A Contact7 investigation in May exposed at least 20 incidents over the past four years where Colorado drivers or passengers were accused of making unwanted sexual advances while using a ridesharing service. However, of those cases, only two led to arrest warrants or criminal charges, according to court filings. Both cases were brought against drivers. The remaining cases were either dismissed or never pursued because of a lack of evidence or victim cooperation. Last July, Uber launched a campaign to warn prospective passengers of fake drivers after at least two people were caught impersonating company drivers. And later that year, in November, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission levied an initial fine of $8.9 million on Uber’s parent company after the PUC found there were 57 drivers in the state who were driving when they weren’t supposed to be. But the PUC cut the fine in half after the company protested that many of the violations didn’t apply legally. The PUC ended up dismissing about half of its violations. And earlier this year, a University of Denver professor claimed an Uber driver wouldn’t let her out of the car on a trip to the airport. She never filed a police report, however. The company said at the time it had blocked the driver involved from the app and that it was investigating. Despite the incidents and infractions, Friday’s shooting death was one of few fatalities that have occurred solely because of violence involving an Uber ride. A Michigan driver shot and killed six people in 2016, prompting further investigations nationwide into the company's background check system. Last May, a man driving for Uber who once attended the University of Colorado was allegedly murdered by a teenage passenger with a machete in Illinois. In August, a Florida man died after he was punched by his Uber driver. And in November, another Florida man attacked his Uber driver, who ended up shooting the man in self-defense. The company announced in April it was piloting an in-app 911 service in Denver and that it had strengthened its background check system. At the time, it also announced that former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was taking over as the chair of the company’s safety advisory board. But some have still said that's not enough. A Bloomberg op-ed published May 1 in the Chicago Tribune said Uber needs to do more to report data on violent incidents involving its drivers. According to Uber's website, private parties need to subpoena the company for data requests. “Our thoughts are with the families of those involved,” an Uber spokesperson told Denver7 Friday in response to the latest shooting in Denver.<doc-sep>An Uber driver opened fire early Friday morning on a male passenger after a "conflict" on a highway, according to Denver police. The passenger, who may have been shot multiple times, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead following the confrontation, which began around 2:45 a.m. MT (4:45 a.m. ET), said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson. The driver was identified as Michael Hancock, 29, and arrested on a charge of first-degree murder, police tweeted. UPDATE: 29 YO Michael Hancock has been arrested for investigation of first degree murder for the early morning shooting on I-25 and Unversity. pic.twitter.com/YVvKFVy5ge — Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) June 1, 2018 Hancock was earlier treated at the hospital for unspecified wounds and released into police custody, Jackson said, adding that investigators "can't speculate what went on in the car." The passenger was not immediately identified. Police shut down a portion of the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 through the morning rush hour, causing massive gridlock, as they sought to interview other drivers who may have witnessed the shooting. Jackson said authorities were in contact with Uber. He said it was unclear if the shooting occurred while Hancock was on a job. A spokesman for the ride-sharing app said in a statement that the company is "deeply troubled" by what happened: "Our thoughts are with the families of those involved, and we will continue working closely with police." In a 2016 case in Kalamazoo, Michigan, an Uber driver was charged with fatally shooting six people and wounding two others — apparently at random — and blaming the car service's mobile app for turning him into "a puppet." He remains jailed while awaiting trial.<doc-sep>An Uber driver shot and killed a passenger inside his vehicle on I-25 early Friday morning, Denver police said. DENVER — DENVER - An Uber driver is facing a first-degree murder charge after police say he shot his passenger early Friday morning. According to court documents, Michael Hancock, 29, shot his passenger just before 3 a.m. Friday on Interstate 25 near the University Boulevard exit. The suspect is not related to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, his office confirms. The victim has since been identified by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner as 45-year-old Hyun Kim. He died of multiple gunshot wounds. Neighbors say the victim lived with his family in Englewood. Kim's family was not ready to talk Friday night. Hancock was arrested at 8 a.m. the morning of the shooting, according to the probable cause statement obtained by 9NEWS. The court record said a witness near the on-ramp of I-25 and University called 911 a little before 2 a.m. Friday. That witness said an Uber driver told him his rider tried to attack him and he shot him. According to the court record, the witness handed the phone to the Uber driver, who identified himself as Michael Hancock. The report says police found Kim on the floorboard of the front passenger seat suffering from gunshot wounds. Denver police said after Hancock was handcuffed and a gun was taken from him, he had trouble breathing and was taken to Denver Health, where he was treated and released. A DPD detective found 10 spent 40 caliber cartridges near the site of the shooting. The court document obtained by 9NEWS says Hancock declined to speak with the detectives without an attorney. DPD said they didn’t believe the victim and the driver knew each other, or that anyone else was in the car at the time of the shooting. Hancock’s mother and father spoke with 9NEWS on Friday. Hancock’s mother Stephanie told 9NEWS her son has been working for Uber for a couple of years to make extra money. He also works at a youth group home as a counselor, she said. “He’s a husband, a father, a college student. He works two jobs,” Stephanie Hancock told 9NEWS. “It’s a terrible, terrible thing that happened. We don’t know anything else.” She added that Hancock is still going to college, but declined to name the school. His parents also told 9NEWS that he had a concealed carry permit from his days of working as a security guard. “He’s a great dad,” Michael Hancock Sr. told 9NEWS. Phillip Smith, a pastor with the Colorado Christian Fellowship where Hancock visited also spoke with 9NEWS. “Michael is one of the most gentle people I know and [one of] the kindest souls I know," said Smith. "He’s a good father." Smith said he doesn’t do interviews often but that it was important for him to talk about Michael. “I would hope that if something like this happened to me that Michael would stand up and speak to my character,” he said. According to Uber's website, the company prohibits riders and their guests, as well as driver and delivery partners, from carrying firearms of any kind while using the app, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Uber confirmed that Hancock has had access to the driver app for nearly three years, and Friday's incident was associated with an in-app trip. Police are still investigating exactly what occurred. "We’re going to determine what the relationship was between what appears to be a passenger and a driver prior to this particular ride," Denver police spokesperson Sonny Jackson said. “That’s the one thing I would stress anyone that was on the highway at this time ….if they saw a conflict going on inside this vehicle please let us know.” The southbound lanes of I-25 were closed at University through the morning commute but reopened around 8 a.m. 9NEWS reached out to Uber and received the following statement: “We are all deeply troubled by the events in Denver today. Our thoughts are with the families of those involved, and we will continue working closely with police.” According to the research done by 9NEWS, the driver doesn’t have a criminal history. A court database shows the driver had a couple of driving infractions including speeding tickets.<doc-sep>
DENVER — An Uber driver fatally shot a passenger early Friday morning while the two were in a vehicle on an interstate in Denver. Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said preliminary information points to a conflict between the driver and passenger. He says shots were fired by the driver on Interstate 25 shortly before 3 a.m Friday. The driver, identified by police as Michael A. Hancock, 29, is being held without bond in a Denver jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. Hancock told a witness the passenger, identified by the medical examiner as Hyun Kim, 45, assaulted him while they were driving, according to court records. The initial police investigation snarled morning rush-hour traffic through Denver. I-25 is the primary north-south route through the city, and the closure of the southbound lanes until 8 a.m. Denver time forced drivers to battle heavy traffic through residential areas and the University of Denver campus, backing up vehicles into neighborhoods as commuters sought alternate routes. Hancock’s mother, Stephanie Hancock, told KUSA-TV that he's been driving for Uber for a couple of years to make extra money. He also works at a youth group home as a counselor, she said. “He’s a husband, a father, a college student. He works two jobs,” Stephanie Hancock told the station. “It’s a terrible, terrible thing that happened. We don’t know anything else.” Hancock's parents told KUSA-TV that he had a concealed carry permit from his days of working as a security guard. Police said they recovered 10 bullet casings from the scene. Uber's policies generally ban both drivers and passengers from carrying firearms. "This is very preliminary, but it appears there was an Uber driver and his passenger got into a conflict inside his vehicle, shots were exchanged, shots were fired and the passenger it appears was shot," Jackson told KUSA-TV in Denver. In a statement to USA TODAY, Uber said, “We are all deeply troubled by the events in Denver today. Our thoughts are with the families of those involved. The driver's access to the app has been removed, and we will continue working closely with police.” This is just the latest troublesome incident for the ride-hailing company in Denver and the state of Colorado. In April, Denver law professor Nancy Leong fired off a series of tweets describing how her Uber driver told her he was going to take her to a hotel instead of the Denver International Airport. At a stop light, she said she screamed and pounded on the vehicle windows until nearby construction workers noticed and the driver then unlocked the doors and Leong got out. Last year, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission fined Uber $8.9 million after regulators found 57 Uber drivers over the previous year and a half were on the job despite having felony convictions, major moving violations or were driving with a suspended, revoked or cancelled driver's license. The commission in April reduced the fine to $4.5 million after some violations were dismissed and a judge has not ruled on Uber's petition that the commission exceeded its authority with the penalty. Contributing: KUSA-TV