AURORA, Colo.—Police on Friday arrested a suspect in the shooting death of an Aurora city code-enforcement officer.
Harry Denard Williams, 22, was arrested at about 5 p.m. at a home in the north-Denver neighborhood Montbello for investigation of murder in the death of Rodney Morales, said Aurora police spokeswoman Shannon Lucy.
Morales, 40, was shot Thursday while attempting to do a routine building inspection at an apartment complex in the east-Denver suburb of Aurora. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Authorities launched a massive search Thursday afternoon that involved K-9 teams, a helicopter and hundreds of Aurora and Denver police. Seven area schools were placed on lock-down, and several streets were blocked off.
On Friday, police obtained an arrest warrant and used a “sound-amplification system” to give verbal orders to Williams from outside the residence in Montbello, Lucy said. Williams complied with orders and was arrested without incident and transported to the Aurora City Jail.
Williams has a lengthy criminal record and is currently on probation for a drug conviction, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
Police did not know the motive for the shooting. Code-enforcement officers enforce snow-shoveling, weed control and other safety and health regulations. They do not carry guns, and their uniforms do not resemble police uniforms.
Morales and another code-inspection officer were at the Aurora apartment complex for a scheduled inspection of the interior and exterior of the building, Lucy said.
