A 911 dispatcher in Aurora, Colorado got a chilling call in early September. A man said “we are about to start striking fear shooting down all cops that we see by their selves.” He went on to also threaten the sheriff’s department and concluded the call by saying “Let us catch you by yourself and it’s shots fired.” Local law enforcement is taking the call very seriously.
On that same night, Aurora police were called to a scene where unknown assailants shot at them. It isn’t clear if that incident was related to the threatening call, but police in Aurora and Denver aren’t taking any chances and are on high alert. However, they assure that there is no threat to public safety.
The President of the Aurora Police Association told Fox31 that people threaten the police all the time, but very rarely do these threats involve wanting to shoot at the police.
Some see the threats as part of a national wave of anger directed at the police. Anti-police graffiti turned up around the country on the same weekend as the 911 threat. Emoji-style images that showed a gun aimed at the head of a policeman turned up in locations around Houston. In San Antonio, several locations displayed graffiti reading “F-k the police.” Graffiti displaying the same message turned up in Lakeville, Minnesota over the past two weeks.
Aurora and Denver police officers will continue doing their jobs despite the threats. Denver detective Nick Rogers said that the threat is making him stronger and told Fox31 “If you’re willing to kill me who else are you going to kill?”