Sandy MaloneAurora, CO – Six Aurora high school students are recovering from gunshot wounds after someone opened fire on a park near campus on Monday, but the police chief said authorities have no suspects.
Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said the attack at Nome Park at about 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 15 was a drive-by shooting that involved more than one kind of gun and more than one caliber of bullet, KUSA reported.
Chief Wilson said there may have also been armed suspects on foot who were shooting at the students in the park.
The police chief said school resources officers on the nearby Aurora Central High School campus heard the gunfire and rushed to the scene to help, KUSA reported.
She said those officers applied tourniquets to at least two of the wounded students while they waited for ambulances to arrive and may have saved lives.
Police have no suspects in the shootings.
Chief Wilson asked for the public’s help and pleaded for nearby residents and students who had pictures or videos of what happened at the park located near Nome Street and 12th Avenue to turn them in to the police, KUSA reported.
“I need us all to be outraged by what happened here today,” the police chief said during a press briefing late in the day.
Chief Wilson said all six of the teenagers who were shot are students at Aurora Central High School, which is located across the street from the park, and the shooting spree occurred during school hours.
“When I got the call my heart dropped,” she said. “I think enough is enough. And I think we need to come together as a community. This is a public health crisis. There’s a violence crisis across the nation right now. I think we all need to pay attention.”
Police have not released the names of the victims but said a 14-year-old boy, a 15-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy, and an 18-year-old man were wounded by gunfire, KUSA reported.
Five of the students were transported to area hospitals by ambulance.
The 18-year-old victim drove himself to a medical facility for treatment, KUSA reported.
All of the students were expected to recover.
Henry Martinez, a neighbor who lives directly across the street from Nome Park, said that when the shooting started, he heard at least 30 shots, KUSA reported.
“I’m a little shook about this,” Martinez said. “It’s scary hearing that many gunshots going off right in front of your house.”
Another neighbor, 70-year-old Brian Raymer, told the Colorado Sun that he’s lived across the street from the park since 1951.
“I’m not surprised, but I’m disheartened,” Raymer said. “There’s a lot of trouble at this park. You see kids hanging out here when they should be in school.”
Crystal Brown, who has a sophomore at Aurora Central High School, said she “was a nervous wreck” after she heard about the shooting until she was reunited with her daughter outside the school, the Colorado Sun reported.
Brown’s daughter is the youngest of her six children and she said the violence in the area has grown over the years.
“When my older kids were in school, sure, you’d hear about fights. But shootings? Come on. I don’t understand why people can’t get along. Come together,” the mother told the Colorado Sun.
Her daughter said she was in class when she heard gunfire outside.
The 15 year old told the Colorado Sun she wasn’t that surprised by the shootings because kids do bring guns to school.
Aurora Public Schools announced that Aurora Central High School would be open for classes on Tuesday but said there would be extra security and mental health professionals on campus to make sure students have all the needed resources to cope with yesterday’s terrifying attack, KUSA reported.
“We are disgusted by this and other senseless acts of violence against our children,” Aurora Public Schools Superintendent Rico Munn and Board of Education President Kyla Armstrong-Romero said in a joint statement.
Holly Matkin
