86-Year-Old Woman Shot in Commerce City; Suspect in Custody

COMMERCE CITY, Colorado – An 86-year-old woman is hospitalized in critical condition after being shot while sitting inside her car at an intersection Monday afternoon, prompting an hours-long manhunt and shelter-in-place order in the area near 60th and Monaco.

Police believe the elderly woman was an innocent bystander. She is expected to survive, according to authorities.

The incident unfolded Monday afternoon when gunfire erupted at the intersection. A neighbor who asked not to be identified told reporters he heard “about 8 gunshots” soon after arriving home from work. Another resident described seeing someone running from the scene, saying, “I’ve never experienced that… it was kind of scary.”

Security video from a home on Loki Street showed police and K-9 units walking door to door through the neighborhood and canvassing backyards. One neighbor, whose family was told to evacuate around 3:00 p.m., said, “We saw somebody running… at first we didn’t know what was going on. We saw all the commotion.”

Commerce City police eventually took one suspect into custody after he fled on foot. Authorities are still searching for a second person believed to have driven away from the scene.

The shelter-in-place order has since been lifted. Police have not yet released the identity of the person in custody.

A resident expressed the community’s unease, telling reporters, “People are just shooting at cars that they don’t even know.”