Terror strikes Aurora, Colorado once again just as the town begins to heal from last year’s “Batman: Dark Knight Rises” killing field. A gunman who barricaded himself inside a townhouse after killing several people in the home was shot to death by police Saturday.
The gunman and his three victims, as well as a woman who managed to escape the home at the outset of the violence and alerted authorities, were all believed to be related to one another, police spokeswoman Cassidee Carlson said, but his motive for the killings remains unclear. “We’re trying to find out what set this guy off,” she told Reuters.
A hostage-negotiation team called to the scene had sought to talk the suspect into surrendering for about five hours before police moved to shoot tear gas into the home at about 5:00 a.m. local time, prompting the gunman to open fire on officers from inside, police said.
About an hour later, the gunman began firing at police again from a second-floor window, and police returned fire, killing the suspect, according to a police statement following the incident. No police were wounded.
Officers entering the townhouse found the bodies of the gunman and three other people – two men and a woman – who were presumed to have been shot hours earlier before police were called to the scene.
One neighbor, Sunil Pawar, 59, said he received a reverse 911 call advising him to stay inside and away from windows before police later showed up to ring doorbells and escort residents of the townhouse development to safety.
Pawar said he opted to stay put, later hearing gunshots, followed by the voices of police calling to the gunman though a bullhorn, saying, “Sonny, we want to talk to you, pick up the phone, Sonny.”
Another neighbor, Michael Ignace, 46, said he had previously spoken with the man suspected of the shooting, and “he seemed like a reasonable guy, and we talked about motorcycles.”
On Friday, July 20, 2012, college student James Eagan Holmes shot and killed 12 moviegoers in a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film “The Dark Knight Rises.” Holmes, dressed in military tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 and injuring 58 more.