An employee of one of the nation’s largest private prison companies was arrested after police said he shot and wounded a woman during a confrontation outside an immigration detention center in suburban Denver, where protesters gathered Thursday evening, according to a press release from the Aurora Police Department.
Brandon Booth, 42, an employee of GEO Group, was taken into custody after investigators determined he fired a single shot that struck a woman in the lower body near the Aurora ICE Processing Center. GEO Group operates the detention facility under a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We are aware that an off-duty Aurora ICE Processing Center employee was involved in a shooting incident. This individual has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement,” a GEO Group spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
Officers responded shortly before 7:30 p.m. local time to reports of a shooting, authorities said. They found two women at the scene, one of whom had been shot. The second woman was not injured.
The injured woman was taken to a hospital, where she was treated for injuries that police said were not believed to be life-threatening.
According to investigators, the two women had been participating in a protest near the detention center earlier that evening. Booth and other GEO Group employees were waiting in their vehicles along Nome Street because the demonstration prevented them from entering the facility for their work shifts.
The women confronted the employees verbally and photographed their vehicles before walking away, according to police.
Investigators alleged that Booth then retrieved a personally owned handgun from his vehicle and fired one shot in the women’s direction, striking one of them. Booth then drove away before officers stopped his vehicle a short distance from the scene.
Police seized Booth’s vehicle and recovered the firearm.
Booth was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, felony menacing and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon. Formal charges have not yet been filed. Charging decisions will be made by the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain described the shooting as “a tragedy on all fronts” and said investigators would conduct a thorough and impartial review.
“We remain committed to ensuring an ethical, thorough, objective, and comprehensive review of this case,” Chamberlain said. “Violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Aurora. Constitutional rights are a pivotal part of a just society — violence is not.”
The investigation remains active. Police asked anyone with information or video related to the shooting to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.
Recent shootings involving ICE officers have intensified scrutiny of the agency’s use of force. An ICE officer fatally shot a driver during an enforcement operation in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday, six days after another ICE agent killed a man in Houston, whom authorities later said was not the person officers were seeking. Federal officials said both drivers attempted to flee, endangering officers, but the killings have prompted protests and calls for independent investigations.
The post ICE facility employee in Aurora arrested after shooting protestor, police say appeared first on MS NOW.
