AURORA — An Aurora man is back home from the hospital after bullets flew into his apartment less than two weeks ago, hitting him in the head and shoulder.
The shooting happened on Feb. 10 at an apartment in the 10700 block of E. Exposition Avenue. The shooter is still on the run.
Ryan Thompson said he was enjoying an evening at home when the seemingly random shooting occurred.
"I'm sitting on the couch and I hear like loud banging on the neighbor's door and a bunch of yelling," Thompson told Denver7 last week. "I heard knocking on my door, like a soft knocking. And I went to the door to look out the window, and nobody was out there. So they knocked again after I sat down. I got up and I looked out again, nobody's out there."
The 37-year-old said shortly after he saw a flashing light from his patio door that disoriented him.
"I heard two gunshots fired down through my window and hit me," he said. "Another one went through the couch. So three gunshots came inside the window to hit me. One went deep in the couch, the bullet fragments are still in there."
Thompson said he was hit below the jawline and in the arm.
"Both the gunshots, like they deflected and came out that no shrapnel is in my arm whatsoever or my cheek. It went behind my eardrum so like, it didn't blow my eardrum. Luckily, you know, so I'm not going to be deaf," he said.
Thompson said since Denver7 visited him in the hospital a week ago, he's been making good progress.
He's now back inside the apartment unit where the shooting happened, where the evidence is still visible.
The window where the bullets entered the apartment is boarded up, and the couch still has a bullet stuck inside of it.
Thompson said he was nervous about going back inside the apartment.
"I felt that I wouldn't fully recover from this if I didn't face my fears head-on," he said. "When I came back in, I went into an extreme like PTSD, like anxiety, like an attack."
He tells us he's feeling more comfortable now and expects to make a full recovery.
"I do feel safe at the moment," Thompson said. "Right now, there's a lot of nerve damage in my face. There's definitely going to be some physical therapy."
Denver7 reached out to the Aurora Police Department for an update on the investigation. Officials said they're following up on several leads but still have not identified a suspect.
Thompson is hoping that person will be brought to justice.
"I've been praying about it," he said. "I am resilient and I'm going to strengthen myself over time. But for now, I'm resting."
Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP.
