AURORA, Colo. — Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in Aurora Friday.
The Aurora Police Department (APD) said officers were called to a home in the 3500 block of South Pitkin Circle just before 3 p.m. on a report of domestic violence in progress.
Police learned the mother of two children, a 14-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl, had gotten into an argument with the teens' stepfather.
The couple went out to the driveway, APD said, where the man shot and killed the woman and then himself. She was identified as 42-year-old Katherine Lee Peters by the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office. Her death was ruled a homicide due to multiple gunshot wounds.
The children were inside the house at the time, according to police.
>VIDEO ABOVE: How to spot signs of an abusive relationship
In a news conference after the crime took place, Interim Police Chief Art Acevedo spoke on the problem of domestic violence.
Acevedo urged people in abusive relationships to come forward and get the help they need.
"Too many of our mothers and daughters and women are dying at the hands of domestic abusers," he said. "It's a split-second decision that once you pull that trigger, you don't get to take it back."
He added that people who need help should not worry about their immigration status.
"You do not need to fear the police. We are here to actually bring justice to victims, and the criminals to justice," he said.
Acevedo said the woman's children are getting help from the department's victim services unit.
A report released Friday revealed 91 people died in domestic violence incidents in Colorado in 2021, the highest number since the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board began tracking them four years before.
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