AURORA — For the residents of the small apartment complex at 1951 N. Clinton St. in Aurora, the sounds late Tuesday night were terrifying.
“It was like pop, pop and then two more,” a woman who was there recalled today.
The woman said the shots sounded like they were fired in the apartment directly above hers. The shots were followed by yelling, screaming and the slamming of doors.
“I was pretty scared,” said the woman, who immediately called 911 and told police that gunfire had erupted nearby. “I was freaking out.”
She said Aurora police investigators told her the shooting had actually happened on the street in front of the complex.
The Denver Post is not naming the woman to protect her identity while a suspect is at large.
Police responded to 911 calls from the apartment building at 11:25 p.m. Tuesday .
The officers found a 16-year-old, identified as Edward Darel Hickey, in an apartment near the front entrance of the building. He was wounded in the upper torso and taken to a local hospital where he died several hours later.
Police say Hickey ran to the apartment after apparently trading gunshots in the street with an unknown suspect.
The woman knows Hickey and his uncle. The uncle lives in the building and Hickey was a frequent visitor. She said the victim ran to his uncle’s apartment after he was shot.
She said Hickey’s uncle had helped her move in and had also given her money for food and gas.
“The (victim’s) uncle is really nice. He feeds everybody who comes over to his apartment,” she said.
His nephew, on the other hand, “thought he was tough. He thought he was untouchable,” said the woman.
She said Hickey had numerous tattoos on his body, including a large tattoo of his name.
The woman’s uncle, who was visiting her, said the sounds of the gunshots apparently reverberated off another apartment building that is just feet away from his niece’s window.
“I made them turn the lights out,” the uncle said. “I also told them to get on the floor. Bullets can go through the floor. When bullets start flying, you get down.”
The Post is not identifying the woman’s uncle to protect his identity while a suspect is at large.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Detective Marc Yacano at 303-739-6090.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
