Third suspect questioned in Aurora armed robbery

A third suspect was being questioned Friday by Aurora police in connection with an attempted armed robbery Thursday at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in which three male employees were shot, authorities said.

The shooting victims, ages 17, 19 and 24, all are expected to survive, police said.

Police said the third suspect is a 45-year-old Chicago man who was taken into custody about 10:25 a.m. Friday at a motel on the 2300 block of North Farnsworth Avenue in Aurora.

The two other suspects, ages 19 and 26, were taken into custody about 15 minutes after the robbery at a home on the 1100 block of Liberty Street in Aurora, police said.

No charges have been filed against any of the men.

Police said the robbery occurred about 8:30 p.m., when two men, one of whom was armed with a rifle, entered the restaurant on the 1300 block of East New York Street and announced the robbery.

The suspects then ordered the three male employees to the front of the store and demanded money. It was shortly after those demands were made that the armed suspect opened fire.

Authorities said the men may have been shot because none of them had a key to open the cash register.

After the shots were fired, police said, the two men ran to a car that was parked in a nearby lot and fled without any money.

Police said they now believe one of the men in custody acted as the getaway driver.

Aurora police were on the scene within a matter of minutes and quickly developed information linking the 19- and 26-year-old suspects to the Liberty Street home.

Also taken into custody at that home was a 23-year-old Aurora woman for questioning involving a crime not related to the KFC robbery. She has not been charged.

Police recovered what they believe to be the rifle used in the crime early Friday afternoon at the home. They also retrieved the vehicle they believe was used in the shooting.

The conditions of the 19- and 24-year-old men who were both shot in their torsos and critically wounded have stabilized and they are expected to survive, police said. They continue to receive treatment at Aurora hospitals.

The 17-year-old sustained a nonlife-threatening wound to the leg and has been released from an Aurora hospital.

A fourth employee, a 36-year-old woman, was able to hide in a closet during the robbery. She was not injured.

There were no customers in the store at the time.