Officers were called to the townhome in Aurora, Colo. around 3 a.m. after reports of shots fired, Sgt. Cassidee Carlson told the Daily News. An “armed and dangerous” man was inside the home and has refused to surrender to police, she said.
As many as 40 officers, including SWAT teams and hostage negotiators, are on scene.
To many in the suburban Denver bedroom community, this automatically makes them revisit the traumatic Aurora, Colo., theater massacre when James Holmes opened fire on July 20, 2012 during the Dark Knights midnight screening. Twelve people were killed and another 58 people were injured.
Police believe there are a total of three or four adults inside the home, including the suspect, Carlson said. “They haven’t come out of their own free will,” she said, explaining that police believe they are being kept hostage.
Police have spoken briefly on the phone with the suspect, she said.
“We are just trying to do things as safely as possible at this point,” she said.
