Neighbors watch as Aurora Police officers investigate the scene of an early afternoon shooting at Nome Park near Aurora Central High School, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, in Aurora. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via AP) 
Aurora Police officers investigate the scene of an early afternoon shooting at Nome Park near Aurora Central High School, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, in Aurora. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via AP) 
Students wait to be allowed back into their school at Aurora Central High School after a nearby drive-by shooting at Nome Park forced school officials to create a secured perimeter around the school, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, in Aurora. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via AP)
AURORA | A 16-year-old boy is facing numerous attempted murder charges in connection with a Nov. 15 shooting in Nome Park, which left six Aurora Central High School students injured.
Investigators said the shooting appears to have been the result of a conflict among students belonging to groups and possibly some kind of gangs.
Daniel Ruelas, 16, was charged Wednesday in 18th Judicial District Court with 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, a class 2 felony; three counts of first-degree assault, a class 3 felony; one count of possession of a handgun by a juvenile, a class 2 misdemeanor and sentencing enhancers including use of a deadly weapon and causing serious bodily injury.
Ruelas, a minor, was identified because he is being charged as an adult. District attorney officials justified charging him as an adult because of the nature and gravity of the alleged crimes. The Sentinel is including the boy’s identity, which is available to the public, to ensure clarity in news about the case and also because of the nature of the crime.
Ruelas was one of four boys arrested in December in connection with the shooting, which took place across the street from Aurora Central High School two days before three students were wounded in a shooting in the parking lot of Hinkley High School. The incident has prompted a bevy of public conversations and comments on youth violence.
The other three suspects, all 15-year-old boys, have not been identified.
According to an arrest affidavit, witnesses to the shooting told police that at about 12:45 p.m. two cars drove up to the park. One of the cars had its windows rolled down, and several people with masks covering their faces started firing out of it.
Four students were transported to Children’s Hospital Colorado with gunshot wounds, one of whom had an injury so severe it was reported he could potentially lose his leg, according to the affidavit. Two other victims drove themselves to local hospitals.
Police identified the cars involved in the shooting as a Black Chevy Tahoe and a Black Chrysler 300 through witness interviews and camera footage.
Police interviewed a student who said he had been jumped in a fight at Nome Park the week before and wanted a fair rematch, without weapons, that day during lunch. He went to the park with his friend, who had enlisted some additional backup from a group called the Polo Gang, according to the affidavit. About nine of the gang members were standing next to a minivan by the park.
Aurora police have said previously that they are trying to determine what type of gangs these are, as they do not appear to be related to traditional sects of Bloods, Crips, Asian and Mexican gangs, often driven by drug sales and other organized crime.
While waiting, the student saw two cars start to circle and thought the other participant in the fight was in one of them. They exchanged texts and he asked why the cars were circling but did not get an answer. The Chrysler then came to a stop and several people began firing out of it, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, police interviewed one of the other suspects, who was in the Chevy Tahoe. The suspect said he was in the car driving around with his friend, looking for the person his friend was supposed to fight.
The suspect said some of their other friends approached in the Chrysler, and that he, Ruelas and several other people got in the Chrysler. He said that Ruelas had a rifle that he had stolen from a home safe earlier that year, along with a handgun.
The suspect said the group saw the gang members by the minivan and thought that they were armed. They approached the group and rolled down the windows, and as several of the gang members approached the car they opened fire. The suspect said he “thought his friends started shooting because they feared the approaching males were going to shoot them.”
Several people said that the gang members returned fire, the affidavit said. A search of the Chrysler conducted by police found a bullet hole in the truck lid.
Another suspect in the car said that they were on speakerphone with the people in the Chevy Tahoe, and they had told them to start shooting, the affidavit said.
Ruelas was identified out of a photo lineup by several of the victims as one of the shooters, according to the affidavit.
He is next scheduled to appear in Arapahoe County District court on July 20, according to the DA’s office.
Thanks to our Police Chief and her department for their fine work on this case! But those arrested were juvis and no one was killed, so most likely there will not be serious consequences. Until the next time.
Even though Daniel Ruelas, is being charged as an adult, the factual ones that qualify as adults (Ruelas – parents) hopefully will be required to also answer questions in this one-man “adult” crime wave. These parents missed the boat, a record of who they are and where did this guy come from, the public is owed some answers.
The story about the guns being stolen from a safe absolutely must be confirmed. We’re they reported stolen before the shooting or …? APD must address this. My point is we rarely hear about arrests of the adults buying the ammo and guns that end up kids’ hands.