A man wanted for questioning about a body found near a house in Jefferson County two weeks ago was shot and killed by SWAT officers outside a motel in Parker Saturday night.
Jefferson County authorities issued a search warrant for a room in the Super 8 Motel in Parker as part of the investigation into the death of Robert Alurac, a 41-year-old Alaska man whose decomposed body was found by a real estate agent near a vacant house she was showing to a prospective buyer. Authorities said Alurac had been murdered.
Since the motel is in Douglas County, Douglas County SWAT members carried out the search warrant. They were told the man inside the motel room might be armed, so they evacuated the motel of about 70 residents shortly after midnight. The 60 adults and 10 children were taken across the street to an elementary school, where the Red Cross provided cots, snacks, juice and medical assistance.
According to Douglas County, negotiations with the man were underway when officers spotted him climbing out a second-story window. Officers confronted him in front of the motel, where he pulled out a weapon. Officers shot him and he died at the scene.
A woman inside the motel room was taken into custody for questioning. The identities of the two have not been released. Jefferson County spokeswoman Jackie Kelly said she believed the woman was not known to authorities before Saturday night.
The SWAT officers involved — from the sheriff’s office, the Lone Tree and Parker police departments — have been placed on administrative leave during the investigation, which is a routine practice.
Also on Saturday, Jefferson county authorities executed two other search warrants in the investigation of Alurac’s murder — one for a storage unit in Littleton and another for a resident in Littleton. Kelly said the results of the searches were not being made public.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
