Aurora police shoot, kill suspect on RTD bus after robbery, disturbance during work-release
What began as a disturbance at a group home led to a suspect boarding a bus and then being shot and killed by police.
A 35-year-old man part of a work-release program was shot and killed by Aurora police officers on Sunday night. Investigators say he caused a disturbance, robbed a corner store, ending in a confrontation on an RTD bus that led to the deadly shooting. The suspect's name hasn't been release yet.
According to the Aurora Police Department press release, an Arapahoe deputy was responding around 6 p.m. to someone causing problems and violating rules of a work-release program at a group home in the area of Moline Street and E Colfax Avenue. So the deputy planned to take them into custody.
The deputy responded and eventually found the suspect at a nearby bus stop, where investigators say he threatened a number of people and was reported to have a large knife on him.
Then, the suspect apparently went to a corner store in the 11000 block of Colfax, where APD then began to get calls about a robbery. Police got to that scene, but the suspect had already left and had just got onto an RTD bus.
Police were able to also board the same bus, and they found the suspect, which led to a confrontation. Officers says the use of a Taser and a K-9 unit did not work to stop the suspect. APD says two additional officers responding to the scene at that point shot the suspect inside the bus.
The suspect was treated on his way to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No one on the bus but the suspect was reportedly hit by gunfire from the responding Aurora officers, and there were no other injuries reported related to the entire response that began at the group home and ended at the RTD bus scene.
The two officers who reportedly shot and killed the suspect are both on paid administrative leave, and the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) for the 17th Judicial District is now investigating this entire situation.
APD is asking anyone who might have witnessed this, and have not yet spoken to police, to reach out to the 17th Judicial District CIRT by calling Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720.913.STOP (7867).
