Auraria Campus Police officer was shot in forearm

DENVER — An Auraria Campus police officer was shot in his left forearm as he and another officer tried to arrest a man who they saw trespassing on campus.

Aaron Veneer, 29, faces charges of attempted murder related to the shooting, which happened at about 1:18 a.m. Monday, according to Auraria Campus Police. 

According to the probable cause statement for his arrest from Denver Police, two Auraria Campus officers first saw the man in the 7th Street parking garage and asked him to leave campus. Dispatch later notified the officers that the same man was still on campus and was attempting to get into a golf cart. 

The officers went to that location and told the man to sit down, but he refused to comply, the document says. They worked to physically detain the suspect, but he pulled away. One officer used their Taser but it was not effective and the suspect fled.

According to the document, the officers spotted the man about 10 minutes later on 9th Street on the Auraria campus between West Colfax Avenue and Champa Street.

At that location, the officers contacted the man who was “non-compliant,” the PC statement says. Both officers used their Tasers, which were ineffective. 

The man was able to pull out a gun and fire it four times, the document says. One of the officers was struck in his left forearm by gunfire. They retreated but pointed out where the man was hiding to Denver officers who had arrived to assist, the PC statement says.

The man was taken into custody by Denver officers.

One of the officers told investigators when he saw the man had a gun he tried to unholster his weapon but was not able to retrieve it before the suspect fired at them.

Denver officers recovered four bullet casings at the scene and located a handgun hidden under some rocks near where the suspect was hiding. They also found a gun magazine with live ammunition, the PC statement says.