AURORA — An Aurora police officer was shot Friday night in west Aurora, in the 1700 block of Fulton Street, sparking a massive manhunt.
Frank Fania, Aurora police spokesman, said that two officers made a traffic stop at East 17th Avenue and Fulton Street about 9:05 p.m. Shots were fired from inside the car, hitting one of the officers. The second officer returned fire but it isn’t known whether he hit anyone inside the vehicle.
The wounded officer was taken to University of Colorado Hospital. His condition was unknown.
The car was abandoned two blocks north, at 19th and Fulton, and the suspect fled. There is no description of the suspect at this time.
“We have no clue where this individual is,” Fania said. “We don’t know which direction he went off in. But an individual who shoots a police officer is a huge threat.”
Police warned residents of the neighborhood — north of Crawford Elementary School — to stay in their homes and call 911 if they saw anything suspicious.
Denver police and Jefferson County authorities are assisting Aurora police . Officers are setting up what they called “an expanding perimeter” and dozens of officers flooded the area, searching cars and knocking on doors.
A helicopter has been deployed and police K-9 units were aiding in the search.
“We have a lot of resources out here,” Fania said late Friday.
He said authorities were doing a “systematic search in all directions.”
“Hopefully, we’ll find this guy soon,” he said.
Fania said it was not known whether the vehicle was stolen. He said officers were working hard to find out everything about it.
One resident, Brian Bossen, said officers told him that the wounded officer “got ambushed.”
He said, “I called my wife and told her to lock the doors — this isn’t a joke.’
