AURORA, Colo. — Thousands of people gathered in Aurora Sunday as election results were announced in Venezuela. The crowd expected President Nicolás Maduro to be thrown out of power. That didn't happen.
Videos on social media showed a wild scene at the Garden on Havana, the old Buckingham Square area in Aurora, when the results came in. Aurora Police said 3,000 to 4,000 people were there.
The event led to several social media posts, including one from Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky that claimed there were reports of assaults, thefts, gunshots in the air and a police car shot up.
"That is the way it was conveyed to me, but I have not seen the police car," Jurinsky told 9NEWS.
She described the videos sent to her saying "You hear them yelling that someone got jacked. You hear them yelling that they were just almost hit by a car. I mean, you hear the gunshots."
Jurinksy showed 9NEWS several text messages that she said came from Aurora Police officers with pictures and narratives of what was happening.
Aurora Police posted to X clearing up the "misinformation" spreading on social media. The post said shots were fired in the air, but no one was hurt.
The post said, "APD learned about the gathering before 5 p.m. when there was a report of suspicious activity at the shopping center. APD subsequently investigated a report of an assault on a store employee during a shoplifting incident."
"While there are claims that some attendees at the gathering rioted, causing damage to businesses, passing vehicles and causing harm to passersby in the area, APD has received no such reports to date," the post says.
No arrests were made and police did not issue any tickets, citations, or summons, the post says.
The post also says an Aurora police car "was hit by an unknown object while driving in the area, and it is unclear at this time if it was related to the gathering."
Before Aurora Police released its statement, 9NEWS asked Jurinsky if she felt officers used her as a louder mouthpiece to spread misinformation that might not be accurate.
"Usually when one officer reaches out about something, I do take that into consideration," Jurinksy said. "But when it's multiple officers that start reaching out about the same thing, I do look into it."
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman also posted on social media that residents were owed an apology from the Venezuelan immigrant community.