A 3-year-old boy from Aurora was shot in his home and is now fighting for his life. His father has been arrested in Colorado Springs and is now thought to be a “person of interest” in the killing.
Police in Colorado Springs say the father was arrested on previous warrants, but he is not yet being thought of as a suspect in the Aurora killing.
Police in Aurora were looking for the boy’s father and trying to figure out what caused the killing. At this point, it’s not clear who in the house fired the gun or if it was a mistake.
Police said the child’s injuries are serious and could kill them. They are being treated at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Police are asking people who pray to pray for his healing.
It’s really hard, you know. Steven, Steve’s last name was not made public, said, “I saw the kids outside getting into their cars. They were cute little kids.”
Steve said that the family moved into the apartment next to him near East Exposition Avenue and East Centerpoint Drive in Aurora about a month ago and started renting it. He said that the father was nice and friendly, but that was all.
“Kids are young. Steve said of the woman who lived at the house, “He said it was his fiancée.”
Sunday night, someone in the house fired a gun that Aurora police think belonged to someone else. It hit a 3-year-old boy and seriously hurt him.
“The mother said she heard a gunshot in the house and afterwards found the child with a gunshot wound.” At this point, we don’t think it was himself who did it. “We think there was someone in the house who might have been playing with the gun when the boy was shot,” said Aurora police Agent Matthew Longshore.
A block away, Kaiser Permanente Urgent Care is where the child’s mother rushed him. Steve just got home from the gun range and found his house in a mess.
“There were a lot of police cars here when I got home.” I didn’t know. Steve said, “I’ve heard a lot of swearing, yelling, and fighting at the kids.”
Steve said that his grown son was home during the shooting, but he didn’t hear anything because he had headphones on.
Steve cares a lot about gun safety and gun crime. In 2018, his other son killed himself.
“It’s devastating to hear that because I know what it was like when I found my son with a gun in his hand,” he said.
Police said the boy’s dad drove away from the house after the killing. It’s still not clear if the shooting happened by chance.
We want to know what dad had to do with it and why he left. It was him moving the gun, right? Or did he leave the gun out where another kid could get it and fire the shot?” Longshore told them.
The flat was taped off as a crime scene by Aurora police on Monday afternoon. They were waiting for a search warrant to go inside. Investigators said they are still trying to figure out what happened to the boy, who is still fighting for his life.
Police said the grandmother of the child was also taken to the hospital after the incident for a medical emergency that wasn’t connected to the gunshot.
The police say there were two more kids in the house. One is thought to be at the hospital with the grandmother, and the other is with the father, who the police are actively looking for but have not yet named as a suspect.
