Aurora police are investigating a possible road-rage shooting early Saturday morning on southbound Interstate 225 in which a man was killed.
Mike Hulburt, 22, of Arapahoe County was pronounced dead at a local hospital, said Detective Shannon Youngquist Lucy, spokeswoman for the Aurora Police Department.
Police were called at 2:40 a.m. by a man who said his friend, a passenger in his Ford Taurus, had been shot. The automobile wound up near South Potomac Street and East Mississippi Avenue, Lucy said. The name of the driver was not released.
The driver of the Taurus told police that as he was driving in the left-hand lane, a dark-colored SUV that may have been a Range Rover started tailgating and flashing its headlights, Lucy said. The SUV had tinted windows and double-decker white and amber headlights.
The driver said that he tapped on his brakes a few times and the suspect vehicle drove up next to the passenger side of the Taurus, and someone started firing.
“We don’t know if this was a road-rage thing,” Lucy said. “It’s possible that that’s what it was.”
Police do not know whether there was a relationship between the victims and suspects.
Hulburt had several bullet wounds to the upper body, Lucy said.
According to a close friend, Hulburt had been a lacrosse player at Cherokee Trail High School and was very popular in school.
The driver, also a young man either in his late teens or early 20s, was not injured, Lucy said.
No arrests have been made, Lucy said.
“Somebody in the suspect car fired and struck the passenger,” she said. “We’re really not sure why.”
The driver of the Taurus described the suspect car as a dark-colored SUV with one amber-colored headlight and one white-colored headlight on each side of the front of the vehicle.
Southbound I-225 was closed for a few hours Saturday morning while officers searched for evidence.
Major crimes/homicide detectives are in the early stages of their investigation. No motive has been established.
Aurora police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects, Lucy said.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Detective Tom Wilson at 303-739-6711.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
