In what’s being classified as a hostage situation, Aurora SWAT team forces shot a gunman, who has yet to be identified, after he held three victims hostage on Jan. 5 in a Colorado townhouse.

A SWAT team was called after gunshots were heard at the Aurora home at about 3 AM, police sgt. Cassidee Carlson said. Investigators said three victims, all adults, appeared to have been killed before officers arrived at the scene.

The suspect allegedly shot at police at about 8:15 AM and was killed 45 minutes later when a gunfight ensued as the police entered the home. It’s unknown if the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if the officers shot him.

“We’re just getting in there with our crime scene detectives, so obviously we’ll have to determine if it was our rounds or his rounds,” Cassidee said. “This is a big investigation, and a lot is entailed.”

A fifth person escaped the home before police arrived and said that there were three others inside who “appeared lifeless.”

The names of the suspect and victims have not been released.

Six months ago, Aurora was thrusted into the spotlight by an equally devastating shooting, when a gunman’s bloody rampage left 12 dead inside a movie theater. rosecutors will go to court Jan. 7 to outline their case against the suspect of the theater shooting, James Holmes.

In the same town where James Holmes allegedly killed 12 people in a movie theater on July 20, four people, including a gunman, were killed inside a townhouse on Jan. 5 after a hostage situation. So tragic.

http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/01/05/aurora-hostage-situation-colorado-shooting/