If you didn’t pay attention to the news this summer because you were too busy taking classes, working or just taking it easy, here’s a quick recap on all the happenings at CU and the greater Colorado area:
Wildfire on Flagstaff Mountain
During the summer, wildfires broke out across the state of Colorado. Some of the affected areas included Colorado Springs and Boulder.
(CU Independent Illustration/Josh Shettler)
The Flagstaff Fire began on Bear Peak in Boulder on June 26, and it is believed that a lightning strike was the catalyst of the occurrence. Areas of South Boulder received both evacuation and pre-evacuation notices, but no structures were harmed in the fire.
Cooler temperatures provided some relief for the firefighters and the residents of Boulder by the third day of the fire. Rainfall and a change in wind direction helped the firefighters contain the fire that burned over 300 acres.
Sophomore Kari Boylan, a 20-year-old history major, was surprised to learn that the fires hit so close to home.
“I actually was going for a jog when my neighbor told me about the fires going on in Colorado,” Boylan said. “I was shocked. I didn’t realize the fires affected Boulder too.”
Max Chen, 19, a sophomore physics major, said that he noticed that the impact of the wildfires have taken a toll on Coloradans.
“Colorado has had a really rough summer with all the fires and everything that’s been going on,” Chen said. “We need a break.”
CU student kidnapped and sexually assaulted
According to police reports, on Sunday, July 29 at 4:14 a.m., Boulder police responded to a report of kidnapping and sexual assault of a female CU student.
The student left the bars around the area of the Hotel Boulderado at 2 a.m. and was then forced into a blue SUV. The victim said the captors drove her to an unknown residence around the area of 17th Street and Arapahoe Avenue where she was allegedly sexually assaulted.
The victim was able to flee from her captors and ran to a payphone on 28th St and Arapahoe Ave where she called a friend. Her friend contacted police and told them where she could be found.
The suspects described in the police report have yet to be found by police.
Police ask that anyone with information about the suspects contact Detective Carey Lutz at (303) 441-4374 or, for those who would like to remain anonymous, contact Northern Colorado crime stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or 1 (800) 444-3776. You can also submit tips at www.crimeshurt.com.
Deadly Aurora Shooting
On July 20, at the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises,” a mass shooting occurred that left 12 dead and 58 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
The suspect, 24-year-old James Holmes, was a former neuroscience PhD candidate at CU Anschutz in Denver. He had withdrawn from the university before the shooting occurred.
About 30 minutes into the film, Holmes allegedly left the theater to put on protective gear and retrieve weapons from his car. He then entered the theater where the midnight premiere was playing and began firing shots at the crowd.
Sophomore integrative physiology major Jared Lucero, 19, was at the movie theater the night of the massacre and was shocked to hear that a former CU student was the suspect.
Lucero arrived approximately 15 minutes before Holmes and parked his car behind the theater where Holmes supposedly parked. Lucero’s car, now a part of the crime scene, was impounded for three days.
“It was crazy knowing that I could have been in the theater that [Holmes] started shooting in,” Lucero said. “It’s weird to know that a guy who had everything going for him could do that.”
Lucero said that the images from that night are hard to erase from his memory.
“I ran outside the door, and I’d never seen 300 people run for their lives,” Lucero said. “People were running and going insane. I talked to a manager, and he told me to get out. As I was running out of the theater, I saw a guy who had blood spattered all over his face.”
Holmes now faces charges of 24 counts of first-degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder.
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Bethany Morris at Bethany.morris@colorado.edu.
