Aurora, CO (12293 E Iliff Ave)

12293 E Iliff Ave was a Showbiz Pizza Place/Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza which opened on January 28, 1981 as a Showbiz Pizza Place with a Rock-afire Explosion, and closed on April 20, 1994 as a Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza with a 3-Stage. This location is infamous for the fatal shooting that took place on December 14, 1993.

This location is not to be confused with the Pizza Time Theatre on 634 Peoria St which opened in 1982 (Unknown Day & Month) & closed in 1984 (Unknown Day & Month) with a Balcony Stage or the current location on 14005 E Exposition Ave, which opened on November 2, 1999 with a Studio C Alpha, and is still open with the 2.0 remodel.

As a Showbiz Pizza (January 28, 1981 - Early 90's)
Aurora opened on January 28, 1981 with the Rock-afire Explosion. Unfortunately, information on Aurora as a Showbiz is scarce. It is unknown if they ever received the 1988 remodel.

Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza (Early 90's - December 1993)
In 1991-92, Concept Unification was in full swing, and Aurora fell victim. This involved removing all Showbiz décor for Chuck E. Cheese's décor, kept artifacts from the 1988 remodel (if they ever got it), and changing the Rock-afire Explosion into the 3-Stage. The store was popular in the Aurora area in the early 90's.

December 1993 Massacre
In May 1993, a man named Nathan Dunlap started working at the Aurora store as part of the kitchen crew. He was fired following a disagreement about schedule hours with one of the managers in July 1993. Dunlap frequently visited the store following his dismissal but according to his acquaintances and former coworkers, he grew angry and plotted to return to the restaurant and rob the place. On December 14, 1993, Dunlap came to the store around 9:00 PM, ordered a ham and cheese sandwich and played an arcade game. Around 9:50, he went to the restroom and hid there until closing to "amp himself up" for what he was about to do. 5 minutes after closing at 10:05 PM, he exited the bathroom, pulled out a small caliber hand gun and shot everyone he saw. There were no customers in the restaurant at the time but there were five employees. His first victim, 20 year old Sylvia Crowell, was shot in the right ear and mortally wounded while cleaning up the salad bar. Next, he turned and shot 17 year old Ben Grant, who was vacuuming the floor near his left eye, also mortally wounding him. 17 year old Colleen O'Connor sank to her knees and pleaded for her life, but Dunlap shot her in the forehead. The second-to-last victim was 20 year old Bobby Stephens, the only survivor of the shooting, who was shot in the jaw after coming back inside from a smoke break. He assumed the gunshots were children popping balloons. He was putting cooking utensils in the dishwasher when Dunlap came to the kitchen and shot him. After being shot, he played dead and Dunlap moved on. After shooting Stephens, Dunlap went to the back room to find the night manager and final victim 50 year old Marge Kohlberg who was counting money. Nathan forced her to open the safe to which she complied leading to him shooting her in her in the ear and grabbing the cash out of the safe. After noticing she was still moving, he fatally shot her in her other ear. The manager who fired Dunlap was not in the restaurant that night.

Stephens, the lone survivor of the shooting, ran through the hallway of the restaurant to the exit after Dunlap left the kitchen and saw the bodies of his deceased coworkers on the floor. He ran to a nearby apartment complex and told them him and others were shot at the restaurant and to call 911. When the police and paramedics arrived, the show was still on and the bots were still performing. Since the shooting occurred only minutes after closing, no one had turned off the show yet. They couldn't figure out how to turn off the show but (obviously) they were more concerned with aiding to the injured bodies. Nathan's mother who was at the Chuck E. Cheese following the murders, was told to call her son and he was arrested the following day. Dunlap was charged with 4 counts of first degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, and burglary and sentenced to death in 1996. The death sentence was changed to life in prison without parole in 2020.

Post Shooting and Closure (April 20, 1994 - Today)
CEC expressed great sorrow for the senseless tragedy that occurred in December 1993 and offered assistance to the victims families following the shooting. They also announced that the store would be closed indefinitely. The store permanently closed on April 20, 1994 likely out of respect for the victims families and due to the horrible tragedy that happened months prior. The building was turned into a Panera Bread and a couple other stores years later. As of June 2023, Panera Bread still occupies the space as well as an Affordable Dentures & Implants.

Stages
The store at first contained a Rock-afire Explosion show. It is unknown if they received the Showbiz Pizza Campground upgrade in the late '80s. It was changed into a 3-Stage between 1991 and 1992 due to Concept Unification. The 3-Stage remained until the April 1994 closure. It is unknown what happened to the bots following the store's closure whether they were recycled for parts, sent back to SPT, or trashed.