In the midst of an ordinary day, while stopped at a traffic light, a veteran Aurora police officer’s life was abruptly and violently ended. Agent Michael Del Thomas, a man who had served his community for 24 years, was driving his personal car on September 20, 2006. He had just departed one training session and was on his way to another when a gunman opened fire on him at the intersection of Peoria Street and East Montview Boulevard.
The attack was unprovoked, cutting short the life of a highly regarded officer and U.S. Air Force veteran.
In the chaotic moments following the shooting, several brave passersby intervened and managed to subdue the shooter. An Aurora police officer and two Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional officers who were nearby quickly took the suspect into custody. The man taken into custody was identified as Brian Washington. It was discovered that he was already wanted in Denver for another unprovoked shooting that had occurred just the week before, revealing a pattern of senseless violence.
The judicial process that followed brought some measure of closure to the community and the family of the fallen agent. An Adams County jury convicted Brian Washington of second-degree murder for the death of Agent Thomas. On April 6, 2009, a judge sentenced him to serve 80 years in prison for the crime. Washington has remained behind bars since his conviction, appealing the court's decision over the years to no avail.
Years after the conviction, the case resurfaced in the public eye in August of 2025. A surprising discovery was made at the home of a retired Aurora detective who had worked on the murder case. Copies of police reports and other records from the investigation were found in the crawl space of his residence. This revelation has the potential to impact the legal proceedings, as the convicted killer currently has a motion pending before the Colorado Court of Appeals to have his conviction and sentence vacated. The review of these discovered documents is ongoing to determine if they contain any information that was not properly turned over to the defense attorneys during the original trial.
