AURORA, Colo. — A wanted man has died after an hours-long standoff with Aurora police ended with one officer and one Arapahoe County deputy shooting at him.
Aurora Police Department officers determined a man wanted in a nationwide search was in the Aurora area over the weekend. Fabien Perry, 27, had an active arrest warrant for a homicide in Roswell, Georgia, on July 6, according to police. He's accused of shooting the mother of his two children in the face with a high-powered rifle, Interim Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said during a press conference Tuesday. The Roswell Police Department identified the woman who was killed as Johana Cabrales-Hernandez.
Officers were tracking Perry before he got to a home 438 N. Oswego St. Oates said it wasn't safe for officers to take Perry into custody before he got into the home around 12:45 p.m. SWAT and Aurora’s Crisis Negotiations Team responded to the scene to assist at that point.
There were four adults inside the home, who police identified as family friends of Perry. Oates said they believe the people did not know that Perry was wanted for murder. They were able to get out safely, but Perry refused to leave the home.
"He began to live stream on social media the events in the home, including him holding a high-powered rifle and telling police that he would shoot us if we entered the home," Oates said.
Around 4:45 p.m., residents in the area received a reverse 911 call asking them to stay inside because of the safety concern to the community. Some homes were evacuated in the immediate vicinity, Oates said.
Negotiators were able to get Perry on the phone and speak to him over the course of several hours to try to convince him to come out of the home, but he continued to refuse.
At some point, Aurora police requested the assistance from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Littleton and Englewood police departments.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m., police heard multiple shots fired from inside the home. Officers did not return fire, and by 10:15 p.m., police were back in contact with Perry. Police said he fired several more rounds throughout the night, and Oates suspected he fired anywhere from 20-40 rounds while inside the home. It's unclear if the rounds made it into any neighboring homes.
"There was a tremendous danger to the community in his indiscriminate firing of his rifle," Oates said.
Oates said officers tried multiple less-lethal methods to get Perry to leave the home safely, including tear gas, less-lethal rounds through windows and flash diversionary devices. They also used an armored vehicle to break a hole into the home so they could get munitions inside.
There was no update from police for hours until they tweeted at 2:58 a.m., “Shots have been fired by the police. A male has been transported to the hospital.”
Shots have been fired by the police. A male has been transported to the hospital.
— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) July 19, 2022
Aurora police later confirmed the man had come out of the home at about 2:18 a.m. holding a rifle, and one Aurora officer and one Arapahoe County deputy fired at him. The man was injured and taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
No officers were hurt during the incident.
The 18th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team is responding to the scene to investigate the shooting. The officer and deputy who fired their weapons were both wearing body-worn cameras, which will be reviewed. It's still being investigated who fired the fatal round, according to Oates. The deputy and officer have been placed on paid administrative leave per both departments' policies.
Oates said multiple people contacted police after the incident about not receiving notification about what was happening. Anyone interested in receiving emergency alerts must voluntarily opt in to receive these kind of notifications.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
