Aurora police shoot, kill suspect overnight near Colfax Avenue & Havana Street
Aurora police say officers were involved in a shooting early Wednesday morning near East Colfax Avenue and Havana Street. The suspect was shot and taken to the hospital where he died. No officers were hurt.
Aurora's Interim Chief of Police Art Acevedo held a press conference Wednesday morning explaining what happened.
Acevedo said two officers were doing proactive surveillance of an area known for being high in crime. At 2:32 a.m. police noticed two men arguing at a bus stop near the intersection of Colfax and Havana. One of the men was seen pulling what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon on the other.
At 2:34 am, the two officers made contact with the suspect, in less than a minute a call came in that shots had been fired.
"You can see the individual running away and the individual that was armed, that they knew to be armed because they had witnessed him produce the pistol on the mesh cam," Chief Acevedo said, recounting what he had seen on the body cam of the responding officers.
"[The suspect] started running away and the officer started yelling some commands to the individual and at some point, there is a discharge of the firearm," he said.
Soon after, police began rendering aid to the victim until Aurora Fire and Rescue arrived and took over. They transported the man to UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital where he died just after 3 a.m.
As is always the case when an officer discharges a weapon, a Critical Incident Response Team is assembled. They will investigate the evidence and witness statement to present to the District Attorney to determine whether or not the officer will face any charges.
The intersection of Colfax and Havana was closed for a good part of the early morning commute for the investigation. Police were still on the scene at noon gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses.
