Police found three people dead inside a suburban Denver home on Saturday after a shootout with an “armed and dangerous” man who opened fire on officers twice during a nearly six-hour long standoff.
The gunman was killed by police.
Officers were called to the townhouse in Aurora, Colo. around 3 a.m., Aurora Police Department Sgt. Cassidee Carlson told the Daily News.
A woman inside the home had been able to escape uninjured, but told police a male inside had fired shots. As she fled, she saw three people “who appeared lifeless,” Aurora police said in a press release.
About 40 officers, including SWAT teams and hostage negotiators, surrounded the home and “intermittently” established phone conversations with the suspect.
“The male was given multiple commands to come out of the house both on the phone and from a bullhorn outside. He did not comply,” police said.
The gunman was acting “irrationally,” hanging up on police who had sealed off surrounding streets in the quiet residential area from passing traffic. Several nearby homes were evacuated and neighbors were jolted from their beds.
“I was brutally awakened. I’ve never been so scared in my life,” neighbor Michael Ignace told The Denver Post.
Police originally believed the gunman might be holding as many as three people hostage. The adults inside had not been able to “come out of their own free will,” Carlson told the News.
Shortly after 8 a.m., an armored vehicle knocked out a window of the home and the gunman fired shots at police, who did not return fire, police said.
Officers attempted to tear gas the home and the gunman appeared in a second story window and again shot at police. “Officers returned fire striking the suspect,” police said in the press release.
Investigators found three people dead inside the home, two male and one female. Their identities will not be released until after the coroner’s office completes a report.
The relationship between the gunman and the victims was also still unclear.
Following protocol, the officer who shot the gunman will be placed on administrative leave pending an internal review, police said.
Aurora, a sprawling suburb east of Denver, was catapulted into the national spotlight last July when a gunman opened fire on a packed movie theater, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others. Alleged shooter James Holmes is due in court again Monday.
