AURORA — Brandon Booth, 42, an employee of the GEO Group, was arrested after allegedly shooting a woman near the Aurora ICE Processing Center on Thursday evening. Booth is facing charges of assault and attempted second-degree murder in connection with the incident.

The shooting occurred at 3130 Oakland Street near the GEO Group's Aurora ICE Processing Center. Booth was arrested in a vehicle on Nome Street less than two blocks from the shooting scene. Police found a gun inside the vehicle in which Booth was arrested.

Booth was booked on probable cause of attempted second-degree murder, first degree assault, attempted first degree assault, felony menacing, and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon. The victim was described by Aurora police as a protester. The victim's name is Emma Landis, 21.

Landis was shot on her right ankle. Her injuries were described as non-life-threatening.

The incident occurred while Booth and other employees were waiting in their vehicles because a protest had blocked access to the facility. Aurora police stated that two women initiated a verbal confrontation and took pictures of the employees' vehicles before walking away. Booth retrieved his personally owned pistol and fired a single shot in the direction of the women. Booth drove away from the area before being detained.

A GEO Group spokesperson stated, "We are aware that an off-duty Aurora ICE Processing Center employee was involved in a shooting incident. This individual has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement."

Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said, "This is a tragedy on all fronts, and the Aurora Police Department will investigate this incident with the same commitment to transparency and integrity as we do all shootings." Chamberlain added, "We remain committed to ensuring an ethical, thorough, objective, and comprehensive review of this case. Violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Aurora. Constitutional rights are a pivotal part of a just society – violence is not." Police are asking anyone with footage or information about the case to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).

The Aurora ICE Processing Facility is a privately run, 1,500-bed facility operated by the GEO Group. The Aurora facility is Colorado's only operating ICE detention center. Geo Group is a $4bn company that runs a vast network of private immigration detention centers and state prisons across the US. Geo Group has numerous multi-year contracts with the Department of Homeland Security for detention facilities, transportation services, and immigrant-tracking programs.

Earlier this week, the Aurora facility reported a tuberculosis outbreak with at least 12 detainees becoming sick. Immigrants' rights workers and community advocates gathered Friday morning at the Attorney General's office to ask him to penalize GEO Group for their response to a confirmed case of tuberculosis at the facility. Andrea Loya is the executive director of Casa de Paz, an organization that provides services to people released from the Aurora immigration detention center.

Loya said, "This really put into perspective what it could look like. When you just have agencies that don't really have people who have the capacity, emotional capacity to run these jobs." Loya added, "This definitely raises a lot of concerns for who they're hiring for, how these people are managing human lives."