Woman wounded outside ICE processing center shocked despite believing violence was possible
LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A woman shot and wounded outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Aurora said Saturday she feels lucky that her injuries aren’t worse.
In an interview with 9NEWS Investigates, Emma Landis, 21, said she had joined in a protest outside the building and was walking away when she came upon workers at the center and let them know how she felt.
Then she headed off moments before one of those workers is accused of firing a single shot, hitting her in the foot.
“Just because you called somebody a mean word doesn’t mean you get to shoot them and ruin their life,” Emma Landis said. “I could have died.”
She suffered a through-and-through wound that broke her heel and left her on crutches and facing six to eight weeks off her feet. Landis said she knew on one level that protesting could end in violence – but was still shocked by what happened.
“We’re seeing this stuff on the news, so it’s definitely a thought in my head of, like, this could happen,” she said of incidents involving ICE in other cities, such as the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. “This is a possible outcome that could happen. It’s a reality that we’re living through.
“Did I think it was going to happen to me? No.”
Aurora police arrested Brandon Booth, a 42-year-old employee of GEO Group, the private company that operates the ICE center at 3130 Oakland St.
Landis and Aurora police said that Booth drove off after the shooting, which occurred about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. He was being held Saturday on $500,000 bail on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated first-degree assault, felony menacing, and unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon.
Booth is due in court on Wednesday. Prosecutors are expected to file formal criminal charges at that hearing.
In a statement issued by the company, GEO Group announced it has suspended Booth without pay.
When she spoke with 9NEWS, Landis described the shooting.
She said she heard a pop and knew immediately she’d been shot.
“My whole foot went numb, and felt like I just got lit on fire,” Landis said. “I couldn’t walk and then I started like hyperventilating, couldn’t breathe.”
She had to call 911 herself. And she praised the quick response of Aurora police officers.
A server at a restaurant, she is out of work indefinitely – but plans to return to protesting the treatment of ICE detainees when she is physically able.
“Honestly, the moment that I can,” she said. “I’m not letting myself be used as an example. … So, I’m going to keep going out there and advocating for this stuff. It’s an important thing that people need to be aware of.”
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