Violence & bloodshed again in Aurora, Colorado.

3 people were killed by a gunman, barricaded inside a townhome.  Neighbours have IDed the shooter as Sonny Archuleta.

The gunman is thought to have killed his victims before police responded to reports from neighbours of gunshots coming from inside the house. A woman managed to escape from the house unharmed before police pulled up.

Police Sergeant Cassidee Carlson describes what evolved into a 6-hour stand-off with police. "He was all over the house. He moved furniture. He was throwing things. He was
agitated. He was irrational.''

Eventually police lobbed tear gas at the home.  The suspect shot at police from a 2nd-storey window.  He was killed by police as a SWAT team stormed the home.

Police haven't said who the victims are or what motive the gunman might've had for killing them.

The shooting took place 4 miles from the Aurora Mall where a man opened fire on a movie theatre audience this July, killing 12 people.  The man charged in that shooting, James Holmes, goes to court Monday for a preliminary hearing in which prosecutors will present their case against him.

(With files from The Associated Press & CBS News)