Four people, including a gunman who was suspected of taking hostages inside a house in Aurora, Colorado, died on Saturday after a stand-off with the police.
The episode began at about 3am, when shots were heard on East Ithaca Place, said Sgt Cassidee Carlson, a spokeswoman for the Aurora police department.
A woman who had escaped from the house told officers shots had been fired and “that she observed three people inside the home who appeared lifeless as she was leaving”, according to a statement released by the police.
About 50 officers, including members of a Swat unit and hostage negotiators, were called, Sgt Carlson said.
When attempts to talk to the man by phone and over a megaphone were unsuccessful, officers moved in at about 8am using an armoured vehicle, which was fired upon.
The police were unable to force the gunman out of the house using gas, Sgt Carlson said, and about an hour later officers shot him dead after he appeared in a second-floor window.
Inside, the police said they also found the bodies of a woman and two other men. Sgt Carlson did not identify the victims or the gunman, and said investigators did not know what set off the episode.
In July, 12 people were killed and 58 wounded in a shooting at an Aurora cinema during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.
James Eagan Holmes (24) was arrested outside the cinema and has been charged in the killings. Prosecutors are due to present their case against Mr Holmes at a preliminary hearing today that is expected to be attended by many of the survivors and family members of those who died. – (New York Times service)