An off-duty employee of the Aurora Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Colorado has been arrested and charged following a shooting that wounded a protester outside the federal immigration detention facility Thursday evening.
Brandon Booth, 42, an employee of the GEO Group, a private contractor that operates the facility, was arrested shortly after the incident. According to Aurora police, the shooting occurred just before 7:30 p.m. in the 3100 block of North Nome Street, near the detention center on Oakland Street.
Police say Booth was waiting in his vehicle with other employees who were unable to access the facility because protesters were blocking their entry to begin their work shifts. Two women who were part of the demonstration initiated a verbal confrontation with the employees and photographed their vehicles before walking away. According to law enforcement, Booth then retrieved a personally owned pistol and fired a single shot in the direction of the women, striking one of them in the lower body.
The victim, identified in court documents and a fundraising request as Emma Landis, was transported to a hospital for treatment. Her injuries were described as non-life-threatening. The other woman involved in the confrontation was not injured.
Booth was detained less than two blocks from the scene, and officers recovered a firearm from his vehicle. He was booked into the Adams County jail and charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, felony menacing, and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon. During a bond hearing Friday afternoon, Magistrate Kyle Martelon set his bond at $500,000, calling the situation “a horrifically concerning” and “a grave risk to our community.”
The GEO Group acknowledged the incident in a statement, saying the company was aware that an off-duty Aurora ICE Processing Center employee was involved in the shooting. “This individual has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement,” the company stated.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain described the shooting as “a tragedy on all fronts” and pledged a thorough investigation. “Violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Aurora,” Chamberlain said, adding that “constitutional rights are a pivotal part of a just society.”
The detention center has been a focal point of immigration protests across Colorado since President Donald Trump took office for a second time last year. Demonstrators regularly gather outside the facility to protest the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
Booth’s attorney noted during the hearing that he had worked at the GEO facility for two and a half years and previously worked in juvenile corrections for the state. Court records show that Booth had prior convictions for driving under the influence, including one in 2010 for driving while ability impaired and another in 2012. He was also arrested in 2008 for failing to appear at traffic court.
The shooting comes amid heightened tensions at the facility. This week, the Aurora ICE detention center came under scrutiny after refusing to cooperate with state and local health officials investigating a tuberculosis case among detainees. Reports suggest at least one person has contracted the contagious disease, and unconfirmed accounts indicate as many as 12 detainees may have tested positive. The facility has been placed in quarantine, and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office is preparing legal action to compel the GEO Group’s compliance with state health investigations.
Immigrant rights advocates have called the shooting an example of broader concerns about detention facility safety and management. Andrea Loya, executive director of Casa de Paz, an organization that provides services to people released from the Aurora detention center, expressed concerns about the incident. “When you just have agencies that don’t really have people who have the capacity, emotional capacity to run these jobs,” Loya said.
The shooting also comes in the context of recent fatal incidents involving ICE officers nationwide. On July 7, a 52-year-old Mexican man was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Houston, Texas, while driving a work crew to a construction site. The agency later acknowledged the man was not the intended target. Days later on July 13, a 25-year-old Colombian man was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Maine during what officials later revealed was surveillance of a different person. These incidents prompted the Department of Homeland Security to briefly implement a pause on most ICE traffic stops, though President Trump overturned that pause on Wednesday.
U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado released a statement on the shooting, declaring “ICE and their contractors are completely out of control.” Hickenlooper emphasized that “everyone has the right to protest peacefully without fear of violence” and pledged continued efforts to “end this lawlessness and instill accountability.”
U.S. Representative Jason Crow also called for transparency, posting on social media: “Violence has absolutely no place in our community. As the Aurora Police Department investigates, Coloradans deserve complete accountability and transparency from ICE and its contractors.”
Immigrant rights advocates across the country have called for a national day of action Saturday to demand justice for the deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, both killed by ICE officers earlier this month in cases where they were not the intended targets of enforcement action.
Organizers with Aurora Unidos CSO, a community advocacy group, indicated they plan to continue demonstrations at the detention facility. Yoselin Corrales, an organizer with the group, told local media that the shooting would not deter future protests. “We have the opportunity to speak out against the oppression and abuses that we’re seeing in our community, and so we are going to continue to show up,” Corrales said, adding that such incidents strengthen rather than weaken their resolve.
Aurora Police are continuing to investigate and have asked anyone with information about the shooting, including photos or video footage, to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.