(Sept. 20, 2024) – The Aurora Police Department on Friday announced it has identified and obtained warrants for three men involved in the Aug. 18 shooting near 12th Avenue and Dallas Street, and who appeared in a security video that last month garnered international media attention.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, Aurora police submitted arrest warrants to the Arapahoe District Court for Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, 20, and Naudi Lopez-Fernandez, 21, on charges of first-degree burglary and menacing with a firearm, both felonies.
Lopez-Fernandez is in custody. Aurora police is actively searching for Zambrano-Pacheco and Serpa-Acosta with the assistance of local, state and federal partners.
The warrants and charges stem from about 11:30 p.m. Aug. 18, when Aurora police officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 1200 block of Dallas Street. About 10 minutes before the shooting, six armed men, including five armed with handguns and one armed with a rifle, knocked on the doors of two apartments, unlawfully entered those apartments and threatened the residents with firearms.
The burglary and menacing offenses were captured on surveillance video, which was obtained by the Aurora Police Department during the initial, on scene investigation into the shooting. It is the same video that was later shared with local, national and international news outlets.
Within 12 hours of the shooting, Aurora police investigators obtained a search warrant for another neighboring apartment. A rifle matching the one depicted in the video was recovered during the search of the apartment.
One person, 25-year-old Oswaldo Jose Dabion Araujo, was fatally wounded during the Aug. 18 shooting. The Aurora Police Department Major Crime Homicide Unit is leading the investigation into the fatal shooting. That investigation is active and ongoing.
The Aurora Police Department and its local, state and federal partners continue to work to identify the three remaining, unknown armed men depicted in the surveillance video as part of a large-scale, multi-jurisdictional operation known as “Safe Haven.” At this time, none of the six men have been connected to an organized criminal organization.
Multiple investigations into the events of Aug. 18 remain active and ongoing. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720.913.STOP (7867). Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
Joe Moylan
Public Information Officer
720.432.5095
AP24-173823