The police chief of Aurora implored parents to 'take guns away from their kids' after three 16-year-olds were charged for attempte...
The police chief of Aurora implored parents to 'take guns away from their kids' after three 16-year-olds were charged for attempted murder following a firefight that injured three students in a school parking lot - the second drive-by in a school zone there within a week.
One of the shooters was apprehended hours after the Friday shooting at Hinkley High School in Colorado after he sought medical attention for injuries sustained in the shoot out. Two other teens - a 17-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy - were hospitalized following the incident.
On Sunday, two more 16-year-olds were arrested, one in Aurora and the other from the nearby town of Parker.
All three suspects are being held on charges of first-degree attempted murder.
A motive has not been revealed in the case, and Aurora Police Department is still searching for an unspecified number of additional people involved in the attack, and are offering $2,000 for tips leading to their arrests.
Earlier last week, six teens aged 14 to 18 were struck by bullets shot by 'multiple gunmen' at Nome Park, adjacent to Aurora Central High School, police said. Police are still hunting for the shooters.
Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said that detectives are investigating whether the two incidents were related.
'I need the parents to get involved,' urged Wilson. 'I need you checking phones. I need you checking rooms. I need you checking cars. And making sure they are taking away guns from these kids.'
The Aurora Police Department could not be reached by DailyMail.com for comment.
Police suspect one of the injured students to have opened fire first on the other two before being shot in a parking lot brawl
'It's just outrageous,' said Hinkley High student Angel Rodriguez of the back-to-back attacks last week.
'A bunch of things going on in one week... it's pretty scary just to think that all of this is not normal. It's something hard to process.'
'We have kids shooting each other with no concern for life whatsoever,' Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said.
Wilson said multiple people were firing shots during the fight before a school security officer 'heroically' came out to return fire and end the gun battle.
Wilson would not say if the security officer wounded any of the students, but he applied a tourniquet to one of the victims as emergency responders arrived at the scene.
The school was placed on lockdown before students were released to their homes.
None of the shooting victims were identified.
Police have taken possession of a white pickup truck believed to be involved in the incident.
Edgar James, center, hugs his daughter Mia, right, as she left the school safely
The high school was on lockdown before students were allowed to go home. Scared parents and students reunited outside the school after the incident ended The shootings come less than a week after six teenagers were injured in a drive-by shooting on Monday near Aurora Central High School.
'This is the second shooting in Aurora this week that has impacted students' ability to feel safe at school,' Aurora's District Attorney John Keller said in a statement.
'No child or teenager should be fearful just going to class - a normal activity we can all relate to. Our community rightly is demanding an end to this violence, and we will stand with them in using every tool we have to prosecute aggressively anyone connected to these attacks on students.'
Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly called the two recent shootings 'heartbreaking.'
'I cannot begin to imagine the pain and anguish experienced by the victims and their families. We must commit our time and resources to the city’s Youth Violence Prevention Program and our public safety partners to identify ways for increased involvement and better solutions,' Twombly said in a statement.
The shooting is just the second of its kind in Aurora this week
Police have charged two 16-year-old boys for first-degree attempted murder for in relation to the firefight that injured three on Friday
Aurora had experienced a similar shooting near the Aurora Central High School this week, and it also resonated with the events of the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting
Monday's victims, aged 14 to 18, were shot by 'multiple gunmen' at Nome Park, which is adjacent to the Aurora Central High School, police said.
‘I need us all to be outraged by what happened here today,’ Wilson told reporters at a news conference after the shootings.
Investigators recovered various calibers of bullets from the scene, leading them to believe multiple gunmen opened fire, although no arrests had been made yet.
Witnesses recalled hearing upward of 50 gunshots as students fled the park at around 12:45 p.m. Monday, Fox 31 reported.
School resource officers applied a tourniquet to two injured teenagers, one of whom was taken to a hospital for emergency surgery, Wilson said, adding that none of the victims suffered life-threatening injures.
The victims were a 14-year-old boy, a 15-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy, police said. None of them were identified.
A nurse who lives in the area heard the barrage of gunfire and rushed to the victims' aid.
'One was shot in the arm. Her arm was injured badly. Another boy was shot in the back and on his leg,' she told KDVR
'So, we did put a tourniquet on his leg. Applied pressure on his back, tourniquet on the girl’s arm. Another girl had multiple injuries on her back.'
Colorado police hunted for ‘multiple’ suspects after six teens were injured near an Aurora high school last Monday
Investigators recovered various calibers of bullets from the scene, leading them to believe ‘multiple’ gunmen opened fire
None of the students suffered life-threatening injuries, though one underwent surgery
Mayor Mike Coffman called for an end to the 'back-to-back escalation of violence' that has plagued the community:
'I passed by Hinkley High School and saw emergency vehicles in the parking lot and thought please God don't let this be another shooting,' Mayor Mike Coffman Tweeted on the day of the incident.
'I was met with the new that those emergency vehicles in the parking lot... were responding to another shooting.'
Following Monday's shooting, Coffman extended his prayers to those injured and their families on Twitter.
‘As the facts surrounding this incident become known, I look forward to hearing from our Chief of Police and from our District Attorney about what actions will be taken to apprehend and prosecute, to the fullest extent of the law, those responsible for this incident.'
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman issued a statement following the shooting, saying his ‘prayers are with the injured and their families'
Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said that six Aurora Central High School students were shot at Nome Park Monday afternoon
Aurora, a city of approximately 336,000 located about 30 miles east of Denver, was the site of the second deadliest shooting in Colorado history after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
On July 20, 2012, James Holmes, dressed in tactical gear, barged into a midnight screening of Dark Knight Rises at Century 16 movie theater and opened fire on the audience, killing 12 and injuring 70 others.
Holmes was later convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to 12 life sentences.
Aurora, Colorado, was the site of the 2012 movie theater massacre, where James Holmes (pictured in court) killed 12 people during a midnight screening of Dark Knight Rises
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