A gunman barricaded inside his Colorado
home fired shots at police from a second-
story window before he was killed as
police officers stormed the home
Saturday. Once inside, they found the
bodies of three other adults, authorities
said.
The suspect, whose name was withheld
by police, held officers at bay for nearly
six hours after neighbors reported gunfire
at 3 a.m. inside the modest townhome in
the Denver suburb of Aurora, said police
Sgt. Cassidee Carlson. It wasn't known if
officers shot the suspect or if he shot
himself.
Investigators said two men and a woman
appeared to have been killed before
officers arrived.
The shootings occurred about four miles
(6.4 kilometers) southeast of the Aurora
Mall, where 12 people were killed and
dozens were wounded by a gunman at a
midnight showing of the Batman film,
"The Dark Knight Rises," on July 20. The
man charged in that shooting, James
Holmes, goes to court Monday for a
preliminary hearing in which prosecutors
will present their case against him.
In the latest incident, the suspect shot at
police who approached the front of the
home with an armored vehicle and fired
tear gas around 8:15 a.m. He was killed
when he fired at officers from the second-
story window about 45 minutes later,
Carlson said.
"After we arrived on scene, there were no
more shots fired up until he fired at us,"
Carlson said. "During this time he was all
over the house. He moved furniture. He
was throwing things. He was agitated. He
was irrational."
A large front window was missing in the
two-story townhome, the window's mini-
blinds in disarray. Bullet holes marked
two upstairs windows, and neighbors
milled about outside.
A fifth person escaped unharmed and
called police to report that she saw three
people inside the home who "appeared
lifeless," said Carlson, who declined to
elaborate about the woman's escape.
A motive for the killings was unknown,
and police had yet to say what weapon or
weapons were used. Investigators
wearing gloves and carrying evidence bags
were going over the crime scene.
Police declined to release the victims'
names.
"We have an idea of who they are, but we
obviously want to confirm their identities
with the coroner," said Carlson, who
declined to release the relationship
between the victims and the shooter.
Officers evacuated neighbors' homes
during the standoff and used a bullhorn
to communicate with the gunman, urging
him to surrender.
Next-door neighbor Melissa Wright, a
nurse who treated victims of the July
movie theater shootings in Aurora, said
she was in her second-floor bedroom
when she saw the gunman start shooting
from his own bedroom window. She said
she didn't know what he was shooting at,
and that she quickly dropped to the floor.
"I hit the ground pretty fast," Wright said.
Wright said she slid on her belly to the
first floor of her home and told police
what she saw upstairs. Officers quickly
entered her home.
Wright said she knew the gunman as
Sonny Archuleta - a name used by police
officers trying to negotiate with the man
with the bullhorn. Wright said the
townhome may have been inhabited by
the gunman, the gunman's wife, her
father and another man.
The July movie theater shootings
prompted Colorado Gov. John
Hickenlooper - just before the Newtown,
Connecticut, elementary school massacre
- to say it is time to debate gun control.
It's expected to be a heated topic at the
Colorado Legislature this year.
Aurora, just east of Denver, is one of
Colorado's largest and most diverse cities
with more than 335,000 residents. It is
home to Buckley Air Force Base as well as
the sprawling University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center campus, where
James Holmes studied neuroscience
before the movie theater shootings.
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