Man fatally shot by Aurora police after shooting home intruder identified as Vietnam veteran
AURORA, Colo. — The man who was fatally shot by police after he allegedly shot a man breaking into his home has been identified by a family attorney as a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Attorney Siddhartha Rathod said Richard “Gary” Black Jr. was shot and killed by Aurora police early Monday.
Black was a former federal agent and a Purple Heart recipient, Rathod said.
Around 1:30 a.m. Monday, Aurora police responded to a report that a man had broken into a home near E. Montview Boulevard and Iola Street.
Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz said in a news release Monday that arriving officers heard gunshots and ran into Black, who lived in the home and was armed. An officer shot him and he died at a local hospital.
Officers found a juvenile injured inside the home and a man shot dead on the floor of a bathroom. The child was taken to the hospital for serious, but not life-threatening injuries that were caused by the intruder, Aurora police said in Monday’s release.
Metz said Monday that Black, who was a resident of the home, is believed to have fatally shot the man who broke into the home.
Rathod said that the man who broke into the home was naked and attacked Black’s 11-year-old grandson by trying to drown the boy in a bathtub. Rathod said Black fought the man off and eventually killed him.
“Gary is absolutely the hero who saved his grandson’s life,” Rathod said. “His death is a tragic incident.”
Rathod said the grandson has since been released from the hospital.
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