On November 22, 2019, deputies responded to a Thornton-area home after a 911 call and found 36-year-old Michael Benito Rodriguez with a fatal gunshot wound to his chest. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Rodriguez, known to family and friends as Benito, Ben, or Benny, was a Thornton High School graduate and a father to his son Peyton; those who knew him remembered his goofy laugh and generous nature.

Investigators say the confrontation that led to the shooting involved 30-year-old Alan Joseph Clifton of Longmont. Witnesses reported an argument between Clifton and Rodriguez over an allegedly stolen vehicle that turned physical shortly before the gunshot. Clifton, identified as a member of the East Side Oldies street gang, fled the scene and was found on December 5, 2019, driving a stolen vehicle; after ramming a patrol car and leading deputies on a pursuit, he was captured and charged with first-degree murder and multiple additional felonies.