Thornton police officer dedicated to help others after Aurora theater shooting
It's been more than 10 years since Chris Jones stepped foot in the Century 16 movie theater and he doesn't plan on making his way back there.
"I think I look at it like you escaped death," Jones said. "I'm not going back to that place where I could have died. I lived through that. I learned; I grew. You know, but definitely don't have a reason to go back."
The night of the shooting never fades from his mind. On the night of the shooting, Chris was working for ADT which was across the street from the Aurora movie theater, when a coworker asked if he wanted to watch the new Batman movie during a lunch break.
"We all met up. Went to the theater that night to see the new Batman premiere. As you know, it just went crazy from there," Jones recalled.
Sitting about midway up the right-side of theater nine, Chris thought he heard fireworks.
"Once I started seeing people running and getting down, that's when I started thinking like, uh, this isn't fireworks this is gunfire," he said.
He and his coworkers were able to run out of the theater to safety. Even though he survived the shooting, he would take an alternate route to work so that he wouldn't see the theater. He also took counseling sessions at his church months after the incident. What helps him heal is getting together with the coworkers that went to the movie theater with him. Every year, on the anniversary of the shooting they get together and check in on one another.
"A couple of years ago, we all went out to eat to kind of celebrate and, celebrate life and the fact that, you know, we experienced that, and we survived that," he said.
That night inspired him to pick up a life of service for his community. Five years ago, Chris became a Thornton police officer, and he now works as a school resource officer. He doesn't shy away from telling students about the day which changed his life.
"I just keep it keeping real with them and just kind of tell them Hey, this was an experience you know. This is why I'm here to keep you safe. To keep you being a victim in a situation like this."
"I don't want people to have to feel how I felt when I was at the theater, so it gives you that sense of urgency to want to get up there and help people," he said.