AURORA, Colo. — Aurora Police are investigating an overnight shooting Saturday morning that left 4 teens injured at a house party involving more than 100 minors and young adults.
Police said officers were in the area of the 1300 block of Joliet Street around 12:15 a.m. when they heard gunshots.
"Right after midnight last night, early this morning, officers were in the area of 1300 block of Joliet investigating what we'd believed was a loud music house party. When officers were in the area checking, they heard gunshots from around the corner," said Agent Matthew Longshore, public information officer with the Aurora Police Department.
Mickey Landry lives across the street. He asked us not to show his face out of concern for possible retaliation.
Landry said what started as a house party turned violent.
"The scary part is, you go to sleep and wake up at 12:30 in the morning to gunshots," Landry said. "I kind of heard one go off a couple times, and then all of a sudden, I'm hearing two. And it's probably six or seven shots from each gun."
Longshore said between 100 and 150 young adults and teens were at the party when a shooting broke out. Four people were shot, all teenagers.
"All are going to survive, which, thank God," Landry said.
"My understanding is the injuries were serious but not life-threatening. I'd be surprised if anyone were still in the hospital," Longshore said.
"I had kind of seen one kid, I think he was shot in the leg," Landry said. "But the police and ambulance had helped him onto a stretcher and I know he got in the ambulance."
After the shooting, neighbors say partygoers took off.
"At first, it was kind of like fast and the furious in a way," Landry said. "Because after that, there was a bunch of people getting in cars and taking off."
Longshore said one of those fleeing drivers created a whole different safety risk, swerving toward both police and partygoer cars.
Aurora Police briefly chased the driver, first by car and then by foot. They arrested an 18-year-old Thornton man with a gun, but said they do not believe he was involved in the party shooting.
Police are still searching for the person— or persons— responsible.
"We've got to figure out what this party was about, who was there, why it turned into four people being shot is a very big concern of ours," Longshore said. "We certainly want to find anyone who was responsible and hold them accountable."
Saturday morning, the backyard of the home where the party happened is littered with cans, bottles, a torn-up fence and trash— now, this is the only sign of the violence that took place here.
"It's scary, it really is," Landry said. "You know, you've got to pray for those kids, pray for those families and hope that— it's a hard lesson learned, but hopefully they learn something from this. Just, guns and violence, it ain't the way."
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to contact Aurora Police.
People can also call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867 or visit metrodenvercrimestoppers.com. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
Metro Denver Crime Stoppers works by assigning a code to people who anonymously submit a tip. Information is shared with law enforcement, and Crime Stoppers is notified at the conclusion of the investigation.
From there, an awards committee reviews the information provided and, if the information leads to an arrest, the tipster will be notified. Rewards can be collected using the code numbers received when the tip was originally submitted.
> More information about Metro Denver Crime Stoppers can be found here.
> Additional Crime Stoppers bulletins can be found here.
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