AURORA | Aurora police offered new details Monday on a Nov. 29 officer-involved shooting that left an accused gunman injured after being shot in the arm by police.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said a great deal of police skill and “luck” prevented anyone from being gravely injured, any police officer from being hurt and keeping anyone from being killed during the melee in a central Aurora apartment parking lot.
Police dispatchers began getting multiple reports of gunfire at about 9:30 p.m. at the Sable Cove apartment complex at 900 South Dawson Way and officers were dispatched to the area.
“Officers contacted multiple people inside of an apartment complex who reported that a man was firing shots in the parking lot,” Aurora police spokesperson Matthew Longshore said in a statement last week.
Police said they encountered a man matching the description of witnesses, holding a gun, near South Sable Boulevard and East Kentucky Drive.
The man was later identified as Arnadin Varupa, 32, who lived in the complex with a girlfriend.
Chamberlain said during a Dec. 2 press conference that a preliminary investigation revealed that Varupa was involved in some kind of domestic dispute in his apartment before the shooting outside began.
Numerous police officers arrived and discovered the suspect near a bus stop in the complex.
“After giving this man multiple commands to drop the weapon, the suspect instead fired numerous rounds at the officers,” Longshore said.
Varupa was carrying a handgun with an extended magazine, holding numerous rounds. Police did not say if the magazine was considered illegal under state law.
At one point during the exchange of gunfire between police and Varupa, at least one officer shot through the windshield of a police car from inside the car, Chamberlain said.
Another police car was fired on while an officer was inside the car, Chamberlain said.
Despite a great deal of shooting and multiple officers on the scene, none of the officers were injured during the gunfire exchange.
Police said six officers were involved in the shooting, and all have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard police policy.
Varupa is currently being held in the Arapahoe County jail in lieu of $250,000 bond.
He faces five counts of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, according to county jail records.
The Aurora police major crimes unit will investigate the shooting, as well as a Critical Incident Response Team, composed of outside police and district attorney agencies. The Aurora Police Internal Affairs unit also will investigate the shooting to determine if officers followed department policy and acted appropriately.
Chamberlain lauded the officers for their ability to essentially make a plan during a chaotic event that was critically dangerous to both the officers and everyone in the apartment community.
So glad that none of our officers or others were hit by his gunfire.
Did he purposely miss aim? Or just a bad shot?
For our protection, he should be in prison until toold to fire a weapon or learn to control his temper – whichever comes first.