Cab Driver Held At Gunpoint As Aurora Cops Closed In

AURORA, CO -- Aurora police announced that officers shot and seriously injured a man, wanted for attempted murder, who was a passenger in a taxi Monday night. As undercover cops followed the cab, the man allegedly held a gun to the driver's head, a police spokesman said. At a red light, the cabbie opened the door and escaped.

Around 8 p.m., officers followed up on a tip that a "wanted adult male suspect known to be armed and dangerous" was inside a taxi near a hotel near 38th Avenue and North Chambers Road, said Lt. Hershel Stowell of the department's major crimes and homicide investigative unit Tuesday afternoon.

On Sunday, Federal Heights police said the man had tried to kill someone with a gun, Stowell said. Neighboring police departments were alerted.

Around 8 p.m. Monday night, the man was located near the Crossland Hotel in the back of a taxi.

Members of the The Aurora police Strategic Response Team identified him in the taxi, which they tracked for several blocks in unmarked squad cars, Stowell said. According to Stowell, the cab driver later told police the man held a gun to his head and told him not to stop. The cabbie made his escape at Chambers and East Smith Road.

Body camera footage shows officers from the department SWAT team identified themselves and tried to get the man in the taxi to exit peacefully, said Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz.

The man in the cab fired at least one shot at officers, Stowell said. At that point a single officer, a 4-year veteran with the SWAT team and 26-year policeman, fired shots into the cab, injuring the gunman.

Another SRT officer, trained as a paramedic, gave immediate medical aid to the injured man, Metz said, until an Aurora Fire and Rescue team arrived and took the man to a local hospital. He was in critical condition Tuesday, being held under guard, Aurora police said.

The cabbie called the SRT officers "my angels," Metz said.

The officer who shot the man has never been involved in an officer-involved shooting before, Metz said. "This is a man who was a police officer for 26 years and never fired his weapon."

He will be put on paid administrative leave while the incident is investigated by the Major Crimes/Homicide Unit and the Denver Police. The results of the investigation will be turned over to the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office, who will decide whether criminal charges are warranted. Then the DA's ruling will be passed to an Officer Involved Shooting review board and an internal review will be conducted, Metz said.

He also said a tactical review would be conducted, "to see if there are things we can learn from this incident."

Anyone who might have witnessed this incident is asked to contact Detective Heath Graw with the Major Crimes/Homicide Unit at 303.739.6213.

Image via Aurora Police Facebook