Police identify three suspects in video showing gunmen entering Aurora apartment

Investigators have identified three suspects seen in a viral video that shows armed men forcing their way into an Aurora apartment, and one of them is already in custody, authorities said Friday.

The six men seen in the security footage — five armed with handguns and one carrying a rifle — are wanted in connection with a fatal shooting near Dallas Street and 12th Avenue around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 18, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said at a news conference Friday.

As of Friday, police had no evidence that any of the men were connected to a specific gang, including Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang operating in the metro area, Aurora police Lt. DJ Tisdale said at the news conference.

“They victimized somebody, they abused somebody. It doesn't matter if they're a gang member or not, it doesn't matter if they're legal or not, I want to hold them accountable,” Chamberlain said.

According to Chamberlain, the six gunmen forced their way into two apartments in the 1200 block of Dallas Street around 11:20 p.m. on Aug. 18 and threatened residents with firearms. He said the men were looking for a specific person they did not find.

Minutes later, the group was involved in a shootout just down the street that left one of the men — identified by police as Oswaldo Jose Dabion Araujo, 25 — dead, Chamberlain said.

About 12 hours after the shooting, investigators obtained a search warrant at a nearby apartment and discovered a rifle hidden in an oven, Tisdale said. That rifle is believed to be the weapon seen in the surveillance video.

Aurora police obtained arrest warrants Thursday for Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, 20, and Naudi Lopez-Fernandez, 21, in connection with an investigation of first-degree burglary and menacing with a firearm, both felonies, Chamberlain said.

Lopez-Fernandez was taken into custody Friday, and Aurora investigators are working with state and federal partners to locate Zambrano-Pacheco and Serpa-Acosta, Chamberlain said. Police are also working with those partners to identify the three remaining men in the surveillance video.