This story was written in September of 2019 and contains outdated information. Click here for the latest on Elijah McClain’s death and the on-going investigation.

AURORA — Dozens gathered in Aurora Saturday night to pay respects to Elijah McClain.

The 23-year-old died earlier this month after an interaction with Aurora Police, and a subsequent trip to the hospital.

According to police, someone called 911 to report McClain as looking suspicious near Billings St. and Colfax Ave.

Police Chief Nick Metz told the FOX31 Problem Solvers that his officers had reason to stop McClain after they received a report of a suspicious man running in the neighborhood wearing a mask. Metz said McClain did not respond to commands from police, and officers struggled with him when they tried to restrain him.

Police called fire and ambulance personnel to transport McClain to the hospital, and during the ride, medical personnel administered a drug to McClain to help calm him down.  His heart later stopped, and crews worked to revive him.

Aurora Fire Rescue said a preliminary investigation determined the personnel followed protocol properly.

“According to them it’s the medication that caused the heart attack, so what medication did they use?” asks his sister Naomi McClain. “He looked pretty beat up, obviously. It didn’t look like it was the medicine that caused it, it looked like it was something else.”

An Aurora Police spokesperson told FOX31 that three police officers are now on paid administrative leave during the investigation into the incident.
Body camera video worn by those officers has not been released.

“I’d like to see the whole thing,” said his mother Sheneen. “I’d like to see the car videos, everybody’s videos, that’s supposed to have that I need to see that. I need to know how they’re going to pay for what they did.”