AURORA — As scores of witnesses milled about nearby, two men were shot by a passing vehicle along East Colfax Avenue in Aurora Tuesday afternoon. Both are expected to survive and have identified their assailants, police said.

Investigators were pursuing that lead after the shooting at about 4:15 p.m. at North Kingston Street.As of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, no arrests had been made, however.

“We do not believe the public is in danger at this point,” said Sgt. Cassidee Carlson, spokeswoman for the Aurora Police Department, said Tuesday afternoon.

Canton Martee, was about a half a block away, said he was sitting on his bicycle waiting to cross the six lanes of Colfax Avenue when he heard the gunfire and saw a man fall back on the sidewalk.

“Man, I know the sound of a gun, and I went the other direction as fast as I could,” said the 19-year-old. “A bullet doesn’t know who it’s supposed to kill, and I ain’t catching one meant for somebody else.”

Police have not released any information about the victims or what might have motivated the attack.

One victim was hit multiple times and fell on the sidewalk, as the other, who was hit at least once, ran to a nearby auto parts store for help, Carlson said.

Tuesday night, Aurora police released a grainy photo of a small, dark sedan suspected of being the vehicle used in the drive-by. Police also asked for witnesses to contact authorities.

Anyone with information can call Det. R.J. Wilson at 303-627-3157 or Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867..

Eloise Stansfield said she was walking to the bus stop one-half block east of the shooting when she heard the gunfire and stepped into an alley.

“If I hadn’t stopped at the store to get a bottle of water, I would have been right there, waiting on the bus,” she said. “There are all kinds of kids who hang out on the street around there, so for somebody to try to kill their enemies out here at this time of day, they don’t care who they kill.”

Stansfield named several high-profile crimes linked to the area of north Aurora over the past year, including the apartment of Aurora-theater-shooting suspect James Holmes about eight blocks away, as well as the apartment where two people died and more than two dozen were injured in a fire Monday night.

“It’s crazy, all this crazy stuff,” said Stansfield, who has lived in the area all of her 59 years. “Lord have mercy on Aurora.”

Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joeybunch