(Aug. 9, 2024) – Four minors are in custody after shooting at Aurora police officers and being involved in a pursuit that Thursday night traveled through portions of Denver and Aurora.
“The Aurora Police Department does not and will not tolerate acts of violence committed against the men and women who are dedicated to keeping our community safe, and that includes our law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service partners here and throughout the metro area” said Acting Deputy Chief Chris Juul. “As evidenced by the substantial, multi-agency response to last night’s attack on our officers, we will dedicate all our resources to ensure those who are responsible are identified, captured and successfully prosecuted.”
“I echo the sentiment that this type of behavior is inexcusable. We will fully investigate any attack on our officers to ensure those responsible are punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Interim Police Chief Heather Morris. “Our officers displayed a tremendous amount of diligence, professionalism and bravery under extremely dangerous and life-threatening circumstances. I want to personally commend all our officers, and our Denver partners, who responded without hesitation to swiftly apprehend these perpetrators who posed a significant threat to public safety.”
About 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, Aurora911 received a report of a burglary in the 24200 block of East Mexico Avenue. The caller told dispatchers their grey Kia Sportage had been stolen from their garage. The caller was tracking the stolen vehicle’s movements through a GPS monitoring system.
About an hour later, uniformed Aurora police officers in an unmarked vehicle located the stolen Kia near 17th Avenue and Trenton Street in Denver. Officers followed the vehicle to the area of 21st Avenue and Ulster Street, at which point multiple shots were fired at police from the stolen Kia.
One round struck the unmarked police vehicle. Two parked vehicles were also struck by gunfire. Fortunately, the officers were not injured, and the two parked vehicles were unoccupied at the time of the shooting.
Officers were forced to immediately take cover when the shooting started and did not return fire as the vehicle sped from the scene. However, a pursuit was authorized that traveled through portions of the north metro area, including Denver, Green Valley Ranch and Aurora. Aurora and Denver police officers were involved in the pursuit.
Officers attempted to disable the stolen vehicle with a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT maneuver, near the intersection of Tower Road and Montview Boulevard, which was unsuccessful. The stolen vehicle later sustained a flat tire. The suspects abandoned the vehicle in the 1700 block of Cathay Court and ran from police.
Aurora and Denver officers conducted a search for the suspects and detained four people believed to be involved in the incident. At the time, it was believed one of the suspects was an adult. The investigation later determined all the suspects are minors.
The four suspects are in custody at an Arapahoe County juvenile detention facility and are all being held on charges of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count each of second-degree burglary and aggravated motor vehicle theft. Formal charges will be filed by the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
One of the suspects is 15 years old. The three other suspects are 16. One suspect is a resident of Denver. Three others are residents of Aurora.
The Aurora Police Department is not identifying the suspects because they are minors.
Investigators from numerous Aurora Police Department units responded to assist with the preliminary investigation, gathering evidence from three separate scenes that included the recovery of over 20 shell casings believed to be fired at police by the suspects, as well as multiple firearms.
Aurora’s Major Crime Homicide Unit is leading the investigation, which is active and ongoing. Anyone with any information about last night’s incident is asked to contact detectives through Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720.913.STOP (7867). Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
Joe Moylan
Public Information Officer
720.432.5095
AP24-153639