One day after an off-duty deputy was shot in Aurora, the reward for the second suspect in the case was tripled to $6,000.
The Jefferson County deputy was shot at the Courtyards at Buckley apartment complex parking lot at 17396 East Adriatic Drive, near Rangeview High School, around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The deputy's name has not been released because this is an ongoing investigation, police said.
Metro Denver Crime Stoppers is offering up to $2,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the suspect.
On Wednesday, the Aurora Police Department announced the Aurora Police Reward Fund is offering an additional $2,000. The JeffCo Sheriff's Office added another $2,000 for a total of $6,000.
Police say this started as a random robbery involving two male suspects.
The deputy was able to fire back after he was shot and police say he hit a juvenile suspect in the leg. That suspect is now in custody at the hospital.
Police established a perimeter after the shooting and the Aurora Police SWAT team conducted a "thorough house to house search" with a K-9 unit. The Denver Police Department launched their helicopter to search from above. The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office also helped search.
At around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, officers finished their search of the area but didn't find the second suspect.
"This investigation remains very active and we want to get this dangerous fugitive off the streets," Aurora Police said.
The deputy was in stable condition in the intensive care unit on Wednesday morning, the sheriff's office said.
"Though he was shot several times & is in ICU, his prognosis for recovery is good & for that we are incredibly grateful," the sheriff's office tweeted just before 11 a.m.
Jefferson Co. Sheriff Jeff Shrader says the deputy has been a certified peace officer since 1995 and has served in the department for more than a decade.
“I know this deputy personally,” he said, “a wonderful attitude, very engaging, popular with other people and a hard worker.”
He says his department received the news shortly after the incident happened on Tuesday night, coincidentally the anniversary of a Jefferson Co. Deputy’s death in a motorcycle accident in 2014.
“That's the call we never want to get,” he said.
Sheriff Shrader told Denver7 on Wednesday evening that the deputy is now in stable condition after several surgeries.
“It’s just tragic that he has to go through this,” he said.
