Aurora – A 22-year-old bystander was gunned down Saturday morning when a man who had been involved in a parking-lot fight shot into a crowd, police say.
The victim, who lived in Aurora, was taken to a hospital where he died of his injuries, said Rudy Herrera, Aurora police spokesman. Police do not believe he had anything to do with the fight.
Authorities would not identify the victim, but those who said they knew him identified him as Seho Park, the son of a well- known South Korean business owner. The victim’s family could not be reached late Saturday.
The suspect, described only as a young Asian male, has not been caught, Herrera said.
“Seho is a good boy. He doesn’t get into trouble,” the owner of a nearby Korean rice-cake shop said. “Everybody knows the Parks. They’re a real nice and well-known family.”
Three bouquets of flowers and letters that were left Saturday afternoon near the blood- stained pavement where the killing took place also identified the victim as Seho.
“It was truly a blessing to know you,” one note left at the scene said.
At about 2:25 a.m., a fight involving several people broke out in the parking lot of the Velvet Room bar in the 2700 block of South Parker Road.
The suspect walked away and got into a car, possibly with other suspects, and drove by a group of people near the bar and opened fire, Herrera said.
When the shooting stopped, the victim was discovered, he said.
Police were interviewing witnesses to identify the suspect, he said. They are also working on a description of the car used during the drive-by shooting. So far, they have conflicting information about the car.
Anyone with information about the shooting should call Detective Tom Sobieski at 303-739-6710.
“It’s pretty tragic, and I know that word gets used a lot,” Herrera said. “But here’s a young man that, at this point, does not appear to have been involved in the fight, and he gets killed for no reason.”
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales contributed to this report.
