4 dead, including gunman, in Aurora, Colorado

Police: 4 dead, including gunman, in Aurora, Colo., hostage situation
By NBC News staff
Updated at 12:45 p.m. ET:

Three people were found dead inside a home in Aurora, Colo., after a gunman took them hostage early Saturday morning, police told NBC affiliate KUSA. The gunman was also shot and killed by police after hours of failed negotiation attempts.

Another person who had been inside the house was able to escape and alert authorities, KUSA reported.

Officers were called to a town home around 3 a.m. after reports of shots fired. Several nearby homes were evacuated for safety reasons and police sent out emergency notifications for the other residents in the area.
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UPDATE

Four dead in hostage-taking in Aurora, Colorado
By Keith Coffman
AURORA, Colo.
Sat Jan 5, 2013

(Reuters) - Four people, including the gunman, were dead following a hostage-taking incident on Saturday in Aurora, Colorado, the same town where a man shot dead 12 people and wounded 58 more in a movie theater last July, police told reporters.

After nearly six hours of failed negotiations, police killed the gunman as he opened fire on them through a second-story window of a townhouse where he had barricaded himself, said Aurora police spokeswoman Cassidee Carlson.

It was unclear from police and media reports whether officers entered the home or shot the man through the window. KUSA television reported that he was killed after police fired tear gas and entered the home, where they found three more bodies.

The victims were believed to be related to the gunman, Carlson said.
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Latest UPDATE

Four dead in townhouse shooting in Aurora, Colorado
Sat Jan 5, 2013 5:26pm

About an hour later, the gunman began firing at police again from a second-floor window, and police returned fire, killing the suspect, according to a police statement following the incident. No police were wounded.