Deep sleep ended for Steve Hogan at 2 a.m. July 20 when the phone rang. He had received late-night phone calls before as a city councilman. Once, someone called him in the middle of the night begging him to expunge a traffic ticket. But this was the first after-hours call as mayor. It was the worst call he ever got. A mass shooting at the movie theater across from city hall? Those first few moments on the phone were surreal. “I thought, this can’t be. This doesn’t happen. There must be a mistake,” he said. “But there wasn’t.”
The role that unfolded was to deliver confidence and reassure Aurora, and the world, that we’d make it through. In the hours and days following, Hogan became the face of Aurora. He fielded questions from news outlets across the world. He met with families of victims. He answered calls from President Barack Obama. He read condolence letters sent to the city from every continent. From his office window, he watched the makeshift memorial grow daily with teddy bears, candles and flowers. In speeches, he repeated the same five words: “This will not define us.”
There were tangible costs associated with the shooting. The city had to pay more than $738,400 in overtime for police and fire response, for employees who planned vigils and funerals and for counseling services. Compared to the overall city budget of $250 million, the price was small compared to the scale of the tragedy. The intangible costs can still be seen in the faces of city employees, whose eyelids still brim with tears when they recall that day. For Hogan, the cost was late nights and early mornings with little sleep and strained stamina, only eight months into his term as mayor. “You just don’t imagine a crime scene like that,” he said. “You don’t imagine talking to families of people who have died. You don’t imagine doing that with the president and the governor.”
But the tragedy galvanized him. He kept it together during the most difficult challenge the city has ever had to face. That self-awareness about what he’s capable of came at a price he wishes the city never had to pay.
Over the past year, Aurora has picked itself up. Plans for a permanent memorial are in the works. A therapeutic healing center recently opened for victims of all traumas. The city’s sights are set on completing the light rail line, attracting big business and helping grow major economic engines like the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The tragedy also strengthened the bonds between Hogan and Gov. John Hickenlooper and other mayors in the state and across the country.
Aurora will never forget July 20. Memories of that dark day will be ingrained in its psyche for generations. Still, the city’s future remains brighter than ever. “It’s a horrible way to grow up,” Hogan said, “but as a city, we grew up that day.”
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