Shooting near Anschutz leaves two dead, two injured

Anschutz PD assisted Aurora PD in the investigation of shooting near AMC.
Photo: Madison Daley· The Sentry

Auraria PD encourages CU Denver students to be prepared

On Friday, Aug. 31, two men were shot and killed, another two were injured, and an Aurora police officer was shot in their bulletproof vest, but survived, in a shooting near University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus. The county coroner’s office released the names of the two deceased as 19-year-old Wayne Carter and 25-year-old Anthoni Readus.

Around 5:15 a.m., an Aurora police officer (whose name wasn’t released by the police department) was dispatched to a disturbance in a residential area along Peoria Street. While on the call, the officer overheard gunshots coming from a nearby alley. The officer proceeded to the alleyway where four victims were shot.

The officer and the suspect exchanged gunfire; both the suspect and the officer were shot. The bulletproof vest the officer was wearing protected them from the majority of the gunfire.

On Sept. 11, the suspect in question, Demarcus Dlaurence Brown-Jones, was charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and the attempted murder of a police officer. In total, Brown-Jones was charged with 22 counts.

According to 9 News, the officer was released from the hospital after the shooting. Roads on Peoria were closed for approximately three hours during the police investigation and Anschutz students were warned to avoid 19th Avenue and Peoria Street.

Another officer responding to the shooting got into a car accident on Peoria on their way to the scene, but neither the officer nor the citizen were injured.

Anschutz police assisted Aurora police in this incident. Essi Ellis works on a two-person team in the Emergency Management Division at Anschutz Police and she urges CU Denver students to be prepared if a similar situation occurs near the downtown campus.

Auraria Campus Police Department officers are the first responders for most of the calls received on the CU Denver campus; however, if someone moves out of the heart of campus and closer to the CU Building or the Business School, Denver police will respond. “It’s important for people to know who to expect to show up,” Ellis said. Although she works for Anschutz, Ellis and others branch out to teach preparedness, active shooter, and first aid trainings at CU Denver, ensuring that students are informed about proper procedures in dire situations.

In addition to trainings, there’s an emergency notification system on campus. “We notify you of an eminent threat through text, email, social media on Facebook and Twitter, and CU-owned desktops,” Ellis said. For students who want to receive text messages regarding emergency situations, they have to enter their phone number in their portal account, which is highly encouraged by first responders, including Ellis. These notifications explain the situation and basic steps to take, which are “run, hide, fight.”

There are numerous resources on campus that students can take advantage of in order to be prepared for possible situations like the one at Anschutz. “We appreciate letting people know that we are here to help,” Ellis said.