On the evening of June 18, 2022, 37-year-old John Cowboy Jaros was shot and killed on Interstate 70 in Aurora, Colorado, while driving home with his wife and three young children after a weekend camping trip. Jaros served as assistant chief of the Glen Haven Area Volunteer Fire Department. Traffic had been deliberately stopped by several vehicle groupings to create a makeshift racetrack; Jaros, unaffiliated with the racers, tried to drive around the stopped cars when his Dodge Ram pickup was struck by gunfire. His wife managed to steer the vehicle to the shoulder after he was hit.

Aurora Police Department Major Crimes Homicide Unit identified a suspect through witness testimony and collected evidence, and investigators arrested 20-year-old Jeremy Jacob Rocha in Commerce City on June 23, 2022. Rocha was charged with first-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder for endangering Jaros’s wife and children. The case raised stark questions about how a recreational street race escalated into lethal gunfire that killed a father and community volunteer. If anyone knew Jaros, his family, or saw the events on I-70 that night, please come forward with information.