Police arrested a man Tuesday morning after a shootout and bomb scare in an apartment complex near Quincy Reservoir, the Aurora Police Department said.
On Monday night, officers responded to the Chaparral Condominiums at 4283 S. Salida Way for what was "basically a welfare check" and "mental health crisis" on 42-year-old Jeffrey Mitchell Moralez, a police spokeswoman said.
Police knew Moralez, saying they had responded to a call at his address 24 times since June 24.
Neighbors and the condominiums' HOA had called police before with concerns about Moralez's behavior,
Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said at a news conference that Moralez had been threatening neighbors for several weeks.
Officers responded three times to the address starting at 7 p.m. Monday and were able to deescalate the situation each time, Wilson said.
Thing escalated when Moralez menaced officers and other neighbors, Wilson said. He later started firing at officers by using multiple different weapons, she said.
UPDATE: The device has been examined by the Arapahoe County SO Bomb Squad and was determined to be a hoax device, meaning it was not real although made to look like a device. The image is of actual device. pic.twitter.com/6pJTAjv1RT
— Aurora Police Dept 🇺🇸 (@AuroraPD) July 13, 2021
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office's BearCat was brought in and got stuck in the mud with seven officers inside taking rifle rounds, Wilson said.
The windshield was also beginning to give way but did not, Wilson said. The vehicle was unable to retreat because of the mud.
The building was evacuated and police issued a shelter-in-place warning at 4:28 a.m. while officers exchanged gunfire with Moralez, police said.
After about 30 minutes, police took Moralez into custody and lifted the shelter-in-place warning, police said.
"No officers and civilians injured," police tweeted. "There has been an officer-involved shooting where no one was injured."
UPDATE: Please see attached image of the Arapahoe County SO BearCat vehicle which was struck by gunfire by the suspect at officers. Suspect is identified as Jeffrey Mitchell Moralez 3/3/79 image from @ArapahoeSO. pic.twitter.com/p16KADaauO
— Aurora Police Dept 🇺🇸 (@AuroraPD) July 13, 2021
But officers reissued the shelter-in-place order when a suspicious device was found in Moralez's home.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office bomb squad discovered the device was a hoax and lifted the shelter-in-place order about 5:40 a.m.
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