A robbery suspect who fled police was shot and killed by Aurora officers near Denver International Airport Saturday morning. The suspect was armed with a rifle when he was shot, police said.
The incident started at about 2 a.m. in Aurora with a robbery at a 7-Eleven store at East Colfax Avenue and Sable Boulevard, said interim Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. The robbers fled the store in a small, black SUV.
At about 5:30 a.m. Aurora officers spotted the SUV near East Colfax Avenue and Chambers Road and attempted to stop the vehicle, Thomas said, but the driver drove off. Aurora officers pursued the SUV for several miles into Denver near the airport.
MEDIA BRIEFING: @DenverPolice, who is the lead investigating agency, is giving an on-scene media briefing regarding this mornings officer-involved shooting. https://t.co/BtSGIAfxry
— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) October 1, 2022
In the area of East 75th Avenue and Gun Club Road, near the airport’s Pikes Peak shuttle parking lot, an officer in a pursuing patrol vehicle bumped the fleeing SUV, bringing it to a stop in a crash. The two men got out of the SUV and the driver was armed with a “long gun,” Thomas said. Three Aurora officers fired at the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The second man in the SUV was taken into custody after a foot chase. There were eight Aurora officers on scene when the shooting happened. Investigators have talked with two witnesses who work at the parking lot.
One Aurora officer suffered minor injuries in the “PIT maneuver” crash, Thomas said. That officer was taken to a local hospital and was in good condition.
The police shooting took place in Denver, so Denver police will be among the investigators, along with the Colorado State Patrol, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Denver District Attorney’s Office. The name of the man who was killed will be released by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.
Investigators will likely be on the scene “for some time,” Thomas said. An exit at the parking lot is sealed off, but there are other exits for the typically busy lot.
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