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The episode began about 3 a.m. when shots were heard on East Ithaca Place, about 16 miles southeast of downtown Denver, said Sgt. Cassidee Carlson, a spokeswoman for the Aurora Police Department.

A woman who had escaped from the house told officers that shots had been fired and "that she observed three people inside the home who appeared lifeless as she was leaving," according to a statement released by the police on Saturday afternoon.

About 50 officers, including members of a SWAT unit and hostage negotiators were called, Ms. Carlson said. When attempts to talk to the man by telephone and over a bullhorn were unsuccessful, the police statement said, officers moved in using an armored vehicle around 8 a.m., which was fired upon.

The police were unable to force the gunman out of the house using gas, Sgt. Carlson said, and about an hour later, officers shot him to death after he appeared in a second-floor window, she said.

Inside, the police said they also found the bodies of a woman and two other men. Sgt. Carlson did not identify the victims or the gunman, and said investigators did not know what set off the episode.

In July, 12 people were killed and 58 wounded in a shooting at an Aurora movie theater during midnight screening of the Batman sequel "The Dark Knight Rises." The gunman, wearing what the police described as ballistic gear, used an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a handgun in the shooting, the police said.

James Eagan Holmes, 24, was arrested outside the theater and has been charged in the killings. Prosecutors are scheduled to present their case against Mr. Holmes at a preliminary hearing on Monday that is expected to be attended by many of the survivors and family members of those who died.

Bob Broom, a member of the Aurora City Council, said memories of the movie theater shootings were still fresh but that life in the city had begun to resume its normal rhythms. He said he did not believe the shooting on Saturday shooting would reopen those wounds because it appeared to have been an act of domestic violence.

"When the theater shooting first happened, there was incredible grief," said Mr. Broom, who said he lives in the subdivision where the shooting on Saturday took place. "But time heals. And it has healed in this situation."

Barb Helzer, co-owner of the Rock Restaurant and Bar, said she tensed up when she heard news of the shooting on Saturday. "My whole staff, even the young staff, who normally don't pay attention, we all said, 'Oh my God, there's been another shooting,' " she said.

Ms. Helzer says she has friends whose Aurora businesses have struggled since the summer. Others will not go to the movies.

"It is all still a recent reality here. We're still nervous," Ms. Helzer said. "You find yourself looking at people differently. We're careful when we ask people to leave the bar. You don't take things for granted anymore."

The theater where the shootings took place, the Century 16, is scheduled to reopen on Jan. 17. The theater's operator, Cinemark, has been criticized for sending our invitations for the reopening to relatives of those who were killed.

Parents, grandparents, cousins and a widow of 9 of the 12 people killed said they were asked to attend an "evening of remembrance" followed by a movie on Jan. 17, according to an open letter to Cinemark published by The Denver Post.

In the letter, many of the relatives said the company had never offered its condolences and had refused to meet with them without the company's lawyers being present.

"Our family members will never be on this earth with us again, and a movie ticket and some token words from people who didn't care enough to reach out to us, nor respond when we reached out to them to talk, is appalling," the letter said.

The families, some of whom have sued Cinemark, described the invitation as a "thinly veiled publicity ploy" and called for a boycott of the theater. Cinemark did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Saturday.