A shooting in an Aurora Safeway parking lot and subsequent car crash nearby Wednesday left one person dead and three in the hospital, according to police.
Two men who were shot at got into a crash minutes after fleeing the scene, thrown from the car and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The male driver of the car who fired first, according to Aurora police, died at a hospital of injuries from the two men shooting back.
Police said the driver of a third car involved in the crash with the fleeing men received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The shooter who eventually died drove up to the two men in a Chevy Impala and a woman who sat in their Kia Forte in the store parking lot at 1677 S. Havana St. shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to police. He allegedly used a rifle to shoot into their car and hit the front seat passenger.
The two men got out and fired back, hitting the first shooter, while the woman in the back seat of the Kia ran into the store.
The Impala driver, who had an unknown passenger with him, was dropped off in front of a hospital and died. The Arapahoe County Coroner identified him as Tray Von Dion Cathren, 21. The Aurora Police Department has not identified the others involved.
The two men who shot back fled, leaving the woman behind. They got into a crash near Peoria Street and Del Mar Parkway, which threw them both from the car, according to police.
Aurora Police spokesperson Joe Moylan said in an email it's unlikely anyone will face charges connected to the series of incidents because the "clear instigator" has died and the other two men have been so seriously injured.
"They could possibly be cited for traffic violations and charged with possession of a weapon by a previous offender, but they sustained such intense injuries from being ejected in the crash it’s unlikely we would charge them with anything," he wrote.
The police report for the shooting hasn't been completed yet, he added.
This shooting is at least the third near an Aurora grocery store since late last year. Police exchanged fire with people in a stolen car in a King Soopers parking lot in November. A woman was killed near another King Soopers last Saturday night. The coroner identified her as Erika Monique Thornton.
