Denver man arrested in connection with fatal shooting outside Aurora store

AURORA, Colorado – A 20-year-old Denver man was arrested Sunday in connection with a fatal shooting outside an Aurora liquor store.

According to Aurora police, officers were called to a reported shooting in the 15500 block of East Colfax Avenue near the intersection of East Colfax and Helena Street around 8:45 p.m. Friday.

Investigators found that two men went to a liquor store in Aurora and became involved in an argument with two other men and a woman in the parking lot. Aurora police said the argument escalated into a physical altercation, followed by the shooting.

The victim, a 38-year-old man from Aurora, was taken to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, where he later died. The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office will release his identity at a later date.

On Sunday afternoon, the Aurora Police Department's Fugitive Criminal Unit, along with the FBI's Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force and the Denver Metro SWAT Team, arrested 20-year-old Davonte McCoy Bletson in Denver in connection with the shooting.

Bletson was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder and is being held in the Arapahoe County Jail on $500,000 bail, according to Aurora police.

Aurora police said the victim was a native of Venezuela but did not live at the nearby Whispering Pines Apartments, which drew national attention after it was allegedly “taken over” by a Venezuelan gang. He also did not live at any of the other Aurora properties that have “received significant media attention in recent weeks,” police said.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and receive a reward of up to $2,000.