AURORA – Aurora Police have arrested a man in connection with Saturday night’s deadly shooting outside the Tierra Maya Sports Bar and Grill restaurant.
Miguel Angel Licona-Ortega, 22, was booked into the Aurora Detention Center on charges of first-degree murder, according to a news release from the Aurora Police Department.
On Sunday, flowers and candles were placed outside the Tierra Maya Sports Bar and Grill on Havana Street, where the victim was gunned down the night before.
People nearby didn’t want to go on-camera, but told Denver7 reporter Amanda del Castillo they heard at least five gunshots, before seeing a crowd of people take off.
“Some people were even like, jumping fences. Like, just to run away from that area,” the witness said.
Others said those bar patrons cleared the area ahead of officials. “It is a Hispanic place. They thought, you know, a lot of police were going to come, or immigration or something was going to come,” said another.
Those who watched from a distance said the scene wasn’t surprising. “People drink and then they start an argument.”
Many referenced their own Hispanic upbringing, “I don't really know in the other cultures, but in the Hispanic culture, when they drink a lot, a lot... some of them can get abusive.”
APD hasn’t released details about what exactly led to the shooting, but admit there have been problems at the bar and grill before.
“We occasionally get the call here for fights, but I cannot think of the last time we had a homicide at this bar,” APD Sergeant Chris Amsler told Denver7.
