Shooting suspect who 'fell' from car while fleeing Aurora police identified, along with victim

DAWN | Police say the suspect who “fell out of a moving vehicle” he was driving while trying to escape officers last week was Gilbert Vermillion.

Vermillion, whose age was not given, is being held in the Arapahoe County Jail in lieu of $1,001,000 bail and faces first-degree murder charges in the death of Aaron Paul Dafner, 45, of Aurora.

The shooting began around 10:45 p.m. on May 24, when police were called to the 3600 block of Zeno Way after reports of shots fired.

“When officers arrived, an adult male was seen fleeing in a vehicle,” police said in a social media post.

Other officers who arrived on scene pursued the suspect as he walked away.

“When the suspect turned around, (he) fell from the moving vehicle,” police said. The car then crashed nearby.

“We believe he fell from the vehicle while making a turn due to a faulty door,” Aurora police spokesperson Sydney Edwards said in a statement.

Vermillion was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Dafner was treated at the scene of the shooting. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died from his gunshot wounds.

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