Family recalls hearing deadly Aurora shooting from their home

DENVER ( KDVR ) – A shooting suspect was shot and killed by Aurora Police on Saturday night and a family living nearby heard the whole thing.

The Corvington family has lived in their home since 2016, which lies not far from the shooting near the 1400 block of Clinton Street. While they say it isn’t the first time they’ve heard gunshots in the area, it was still frightening for their young daughter.

Eddie Arlene Corvington was in the backyard.

“We were so scared,” she says. “We were like, ‘Should we go inside or should we stay here?’”

Playing with her friends just before it got dark, they didn’t know what was happening.

“We heard something that sounded like fireworks,” said Eddie Arlene.

Curious, she climbed up higher to see, but immediately realized something was off.

“It would be high enough to see over a house if it was fireworks, so we were like, those are not fireworks,” said Eddie Arlene. “Those are something else.”

What she heard were gunshots from Aurora police officers who were in pursuit of a suspect near their home.

“At that point in time, our suspect did have a gun and we had two officers that were involved and actually fired their weapons,” says Aurora Police Interim Chief Heather Morris.

The suspect later died from their wounds.

Eddie Arlene’s mom, Christen, heard it too.

“I had just gotten out of the shower and I heard what sounded like, I don’t know, maybe five to seven gunshots,” said Christen. “And I heard police sirens and cars driving really quickly at the same time.”

The Aurora Police Department has yet to say if one of those gunshots was from the suspect’s weapon. But Christen said it was an intense experience nonetheless.

“It sounds like gunshots and you just don’t know if its gunshots or fireworks,” says Christen.

The department said the two officers involved in the shooting are now on administrative leave pending the result of an internal investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.