DENVER -- A 19-year-old man who police say lunged at them with a knife was shot and killed by Denver officers Wednesday afternoon.

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Victim's Cousin Says He Must Have Been Desperate To Lunge At Police

Officers arrived at the home on 2nd and Knox Court around 3:30 p.m. to serve two outstanding warrants for sexual assault and parole violation. When they knocked on the door of the upstairs apartment, the man who answered the door ran into the back kitchen and grabbed a knife, police said.

Officers said they yelled for a Taser to subdue the suspect.

"When that is yelled, the unknown male lunges at the officer and at this point, the other covering officers open fire, hitting the suspect," said Teresa Garcia, a spokeswoman with the Denver Police Department.

The Taser was used after the man pulled out the knife, but the sequence of events regarding when the shooting occurred and when the Taser was used were not immediately known.

An ambulance was dispatched to the apartment but the gunshot victim was pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were hurt.

Police are awaiting to verify the identity of the man who was shot but believe he is the same man they came to arrest.

The man's cousin told 7NEWS that the shooting victim knew he was facing serious charges and may have been desperate to avoid prison.

"As for me, I've never seen him do anything like that but he was probably scared because he was wanted for some pretty bad charges, and he probably just didn't care, just wanted to end it or something," said Sabian Torres, the man's cousin.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!" That's all we heard and then I'm like 'Oh, my God,' and I just ran to where the kids were so they wouldn't come up to the front," said Maria Hernandez, an neighbor.

Police blocked off streets in the immediate area as part of their investigation.

Ironically, the mayor's task force looking into the use of lethal police force met for the second time Wednesday evening. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said he wants to change the way the police department interacts with citizens, and provide officers with the training and tools they need to protect public safety, while helping Denver restore public confidence in its police force.

The mayor said he wants to broaden the scope of police training, increase the number of Tasers available to officers by one-third and work on other "less lethal" weapons for officers.