KMGH/THEDENVERCHANNEL VIDEO WITH GUNSHOTS HEARD: Authorities say four people are dead, including the suspect, after an hours-long police standoff at a Colorado townhome.
Three victims and the gunman killed
Aurora police at about 3:00 a.m. Saturday used reverse 9-1-1 to notify residents nearby of evacuations necessary for a barricade situation in the 16000 block of East Ithaca Place. Police responded after one person escaped a townhouse just before 3:00 a.m. and was able to contact police. Gunfire was heard by witnesses about 3:00 a.m. but the offender is reported to have been shot by police at about 9:00 a.m. after he began shooting at police. The gunman also shot at a police armored vehicle at about 8:00 a.m. Saturday, but the police did not return gunfire.
Aurora, Colorado police SWAT team members shot the gunman after he went to a second-floor window and fired a gun at police. In addition to the gunman, three adult shooting victims were found dead inside the townhouse.
Aurora police responded about 12:39 a.m. Friday, July 20, 2012 to a mass shooting at the Century 16 theater complex, 14300 E. Alameda Avenue. Suspect James Eagan Holmes was arrested outside the cinema minutes after the shooting.
Citizens in Colorado are allowed to carry firearms (loaded or unloaded) in a vehicle, as long as the gun is intended for lawful use, such as personal protection or protecting property. Carrying a concealed weapon requires a permit in Colorado, but the rules on permits are not strict. Restrictions are related to felony convictions, mental illness or protective orders.
A recent study by the The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that marijuana, cocaine and alcohol use in Colorado is among the highest in the nation,
Thirty-eight percent of adults in Colorado said they had used marijuana in the past year — 9 percent higher than the national average of 29 percent. Also, illicit drug use was 3 percent higher in Colorado compared to the national average of 8 percent.
Bing drinking among adults 18 to 25 in Colorado is also reported to be higher in Colorado — 47.5 percent in Colorado, compared to 41.4 percent nationally (same age group).
See also …
The Cardinal 12 Killed, 71 Total Shot at Batman “The Dark Knight Rises” Showing at Century 16 in Theater Nine in Aurora, Colorado
SAMHSA News Release New national report shows many differences in the types and levels of substance use and mental illness problems experienced among the states
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