Sonny Archuleta triple murder in Aurora: Guns purchased legally (55-57)
The Aurora theater shooting preliminary hearing of James Holmes and the tragic mass killing at a Newtown, Connecticut school have spawned calls for new and stricter gun laws. Against this backdrop comes news related to the bloodiest metro-area incident so far in 2013 -- an Aurora triple murder in which gunman Sonny Archuleta was killed. Turns out all of the guns used by Archuleta were legally obtained.![]()
Big photos below.
According to the Aurora Police Department, officers responded to reports of shots fired at a home on the 16000 block of East Ithaca Place shortly before 3 a.m. on Saturday, January 6. Open their arrival, they spoke with a female witness who managed to get away, an adult male later identified as Archuleta, 33, was still inside, and he was armed.
Stacie Philbrook.
Moreover, three other people inside the home -- they've been ID'd as Stacie Philbrook, 29, Christopher Ratliffe, 33, and Anthony Ticali, 56 -- "appeared lifeless."
The home was quickly surrounded and hostage negotiators managed to make telephone contact with Archuleta. Phone communication continued over the course of several more hours, but the presence of a SWAT team and orders to leave the residence issued over a bullhorn didn't persuade Archuleta to step outside. The cops describe his behavior during this time as irrational.
Anthony Ticali.
Finally, as 8 a.m. neared, SWAT teamers drove an armored vehicle close enough to the home to break out a window -- an action that apparently prompted Archuleta to fire multiple shots in their direction. But rather than shooting back, the cops tried to inspire his exit via the use of teargas, to no avail.
About an hour afterward, Archuleta popped up in a second-story window and started shooting an officers again -- and this time, the cops followed suit, striking and killing him. Upon entering the house, they found Philbrook, Ratliffe and Ticali dead in an upstairs bedroom.![]()
Christopher Ratliffe.
What set Archuleta off? One neighbor told CBS4 that he may have been on a meth binge, while other reporting noted that Archuleta's brother, Patricio, had been murdered on Labor Day weekend 2011.
Continue to read more about the Aurora triple murder.

































