AURORA, Colo — New details are emerging about a multiple shooting that happened Friday evening in Aurora.
Police said two people were killed and a child was injured when a gunman opened fire in an alley near E. 19th Street and Peoria Street late Friday afternoon, across the street from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Murna Mills and her longtime friend Bonnie Bills visited a memorial in that alley to pay their respects to loved ones who lost their lives.
Mills told Denver7 that the boy who was injured in the shooting is her 8-year-old great-nephew.
She said the boy's father and his uncle both died.
"This is a tragedy," she said. "It's affecting three families."
Family members are requesting that names and photos of the victims not be released yet, while police continue to investigate.
She also said the alleged gunman is the boy's stepfather.
"(My great-nephew) does not understand what's going on," Mills said. "Here's a child, another black child, going to be raised without his daddy. We've got to come together as a community and help these young folks get it together."
Mills said her nephew, the boy's uncle, just graduated from Hinkley High School last spring.
"I'm going to miss him," she said. "He enjoyed life and was there for his family."
Mills said it's been a difficult holiday weekend.
"I'm just asking everybody to give the family their prayers, their love, and most of all, go home and love your children," she said.
Aurora officer injured
Aurora police said officers responded to the area near E. 19th Street & Peoria Street after receiving a report about a disturbance at 5:17 p.m.
Officers heard gunfire when they arrived and ran to the scene, where they saw three victims lying on the ground and an armed suspect, whom they confronted.
Police said gunfire was exchanged and that an officer and the suspect were injured.
They said the officer was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, and that that kept him from sustaining life-threatening injuries.
The officer is home recuperating.
