Multiple guns were fired when a house party turned violent at 4 a.m. and investigators have determined it was the doings of a crew coincidentally known as the “Get Shot Gang,” according to police in North Carolina.
The gunfire erupted just before 4 a.m on Saturday, Nov. 1, at a duplex in Spindale, and continued after police officers arrived, the Spindale Police Department reports.
No injuries were reported, despite the home being riddled with bullet holes, police said in a news release.
“When officers arrived at the scene, numerous individuals were still at the residence, attempting to leave. During this time, several more gunshots were heard, causing officers to take cover,” police said.
“Information collected indicates that a house party turned violent when a physical altercation began. … Someone retrieved a firearm and fired several times while inside of the house. … Within minutes, the aggressors returned to the residence and then fired multiple times into the residence from the roadway with what was described as an ‘ARP’ or AR style pistol. This resulted in the residence being struck at least 14 times, with many bullets traveling into the neighboring unoccupied apartment.”
Twenty-two shell casings from three different calibers of firearms were recovered, police said.
An investigation identified the shooters as “suspected members of a gang that is calling itself GSG or ‘Get Shot Gang’,” police said, and a first arrest was made on Nov. 3.
Lennox Pearson, who was out of jail on probation, was found at his home in Ellenboro, and a search of revealed a .300 Blackout AR Pistol with an added butt stock and a 9mm pistol, police said.
Both weapons are believed to have been used at the party, officials said.
Pearson has been charged with possession of a firearm by felon, discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, police said.
Spindale is about a 70-mile drive west from Charlotte.
Mark Price is a National Reporter for McClatchy News. He joined the network of newspapers in 1991 at The Charlotte Observer, covering beats including schools, crime, immigration, LGBTQ issues, homelessness and nonprofits. He graduated from the University of Memphis with majors in journalism and art history, and a minor in geology. Support my work with a digital subscription
LIMA, Peru (AP) — In one of his first acts as interim president of Peru, José Jerí on Saturday led a series of raids on prisons holding gang leaders nationwide, the presidency said, a day after the ouster of his deeply unpopular predecessor over her failure to curb rising crime.
Flanked by elite officers and wearing a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, the 38-year-old Jerí signaled a tough-on-crime message as he strode into the maximum-security Ancón I prison in Peru’s capital of Lima on Saturday to oversee cell-to-cell searches for contraband. The prison sweep turned up smuggled cellphones, drugs and sharp objects used as weapons, authorities said.
Jerí’s visit to Ancón I coincided with raids at three other prisons across Peru, the president’s office reported, including Lima’s overcrowded Lurigancho prison, Challapalca maximum-security prison in the high Andes and El Milagro prison in the country’s north.
The pre-dawn prison crackdown follows the lightning impeachment of former President Dina Boluarte, just hours after a shooting at a concert in Lima on Friday inflamed public outrage over a wave of gang violence washing over the South American nation. Boluarte’s tenure was also plagued by frequent protests and corruption scandals.
As president of Congress, Jerí was next in line to assume power after lawmakers removed Boluarte. The conservative lawyer is expected to hold the top job until July 2026, after the country chooses a new president in general elections scheduled for April 12.
He quickly declared his priority was tackling Peru’s rampant lawlessness.
“The evil that afflicts us at this moment is public insecurity,” Jerí told lawmakers after his swearing-in Friday. “The main enemy is out on the streets. Criminal gangs, criminal organizations, they are our enemies today.”
Killings in Peru have surged recently, from 2,082 homicides recorded last year — half of them contract killings — up from just 676 in 2017, the previous record high.
Extortion cases have skyrocketed from 16,333 in 2022 to 22,348 last year as criminal gangs increasingly extract “protection” fees from a growing number of businesses, from music bands to transport firms.
Peru’s insecurity crisis has been exacerbated by political turmoil gripping the country since 2018. In the past seven years, the nation has seen seven presidents. Three were impeached — including Boluarte — and two others resigned to avoid removal.
Added to the chaos is a convergence approach of willful ignorance from both the extreme right and extreme left. The extreme right likes to pretend that guns have nothing to do with gun violence, whereas the extreme left likes to pretend that crime really isn’t much of a problem at all, and to the extent it is, that police are not part of the solution.
We truly live in strange times. But as Fiorello LaGuardia, perhaps the best mayor New York has ever had, once famously said, “There is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets.” Such is also the case with fighting crime.
But this is not an academic exercise, a matter for ideological pontification or just another front-page story. It is a matter of life and death. And it is the first responsibility of the government. Because nothing else works – schools, housing, economic development – if people don’t feel safe.
Public safety is job one. Always has been, always will be.
But the hard truth is this: denial is not a life strategy. For too long, leaders have looked the other way, telling people not to believe their lying eyes, deploying selective statistics or insisting that a few isolated incidents don’t require a real solution to a systemic crisis. New Yorkers know better. The problem of gun violence is both immediate and structural. It is about gangs and guns, but also about unemployment, disinvestment, and hopelessness. And so the solution must also be both immediate and structural.
That is why, last week, I laid out a comprehensive five-point plan to meet the challenge head-on. It is not theoretical or ideological. It is grounded in what works, what has worked before, and what will work again.
At the heart of it is a recognition that law enforcement and community investment are not competing values—they are complementary necessities. New York City today has thousands fewer officers than in the 1990s, when we drove crime down to historic lows. That absence is felt most acutely in the subway system, where riders feel under siege. We must rebuild the ranks: 5,000 more officers citywide, 1,500 dedicated to transit, and provide the incentives to keep experienced cops from walking away. Presence matters. Training matters. Precision policing that focuses on the few individuals and places driving the majority of crime matters.
But policing alone is not enough. Violence doesn’t begin with a trigger pull—it begins with despair. If a 17-year-old believes he has no future, the gang on the corner becomes his only employer, his only family. When I was governor, we invested hundreds of millions in workforce development and youth employment across the state, including in New York City. It worked. Young people who had options took them. Hope is the best deterrent to violence. That’s why my plan calls for a new $100 million investment in workforce programs and youth jobs right here in our city.
We must also confront the culture of violence itself. Community-based groups—the violence interrupters who mediate disputes before they erupt—are saving lives every day. Programs like Cure Violence and Save Our Streets have cut shootings by double digits where they operate. They are not a substitute for law enforcement; they are a partner in prevention. We should double down, expanding their reach and funding them to do what government can’t do alone: rebuild trust, defuse tensions, change behavior block by block.
And we have to get the weapons off the street. Every illegal gun we remove is a life potentially saved. Gun buyback programs aren’t glamorous, but they are effective. Every firearm surrendered is one less tool of destruction circulating in our neighborhoods.
When you weave these threads together—restoring police ranks, investing in youth and jobs, supporting interrupters, buying back guns, and targeting enforcement with precision—you begin to see the tapestry of a city that can once again feel safe. A city where children can play outside without fear. A city where families don’t have to live with the daily anxiety of stray bullets. A city where justice is measured not in political slogans but in lives preserved.
Some on the far left want to defund the police, as if stripping away law enforcement will somehow make us safer. It won’t. Others on the right talk only about more cops, as if flooding the streets alone will solve the problem. It won’t. The truth is more difficult—and more hopeful. We need police to protect, jobs to prevent, interrupters to heal, and a strategy that is smart, fair, and relentless.
We’ve done it before. When I was governor, we faced spikes in gun violence, and we brought them down. When I was HUD Secretary, we pioneered holistic approaches that became national models. We know what works. The only question is whether we have the courage to do it.
Gun violence is not inevitable. It is not destiny. It is the result of choices—our choices as a city. Let’s choose safety. Let’s choose opportunity. Let’s choose life.
Andrew Cuomo, a former governor of New York, is an independent candidate for NYC mayor.
Jeraldine Mazo, a resident of Aurora’s Edge at Lowry apartment complex, speaks during a press conference to “set the record straight” on an alleged “gang takeover” of the property. Sept. 4, 2024.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The presence of a Venezuelan gang in Aurora became a talking point in Tuesday’s presidential debate, with former President Donald Trump once again using the situation to argue for an immigration crackdown.
In his first answer, Trump name checked Aurora, along with an Ohio town with a large Haitian population, claiming that criminal immigrants “are taking over the towns, they are taking over buildings, they are going in violently.”
It was at least the third time in recent weeks that Trump has referred to the presence of Venezuelan gang members in Aurora. It is part of Trump’s consistent portrayal of immigrants as dangerous and violent, though researchers have consistently found no link between immigration and crime.
Trump’s claims about Aurora can be traced to allegations made by the landlord of several apartment buildings; the company claims that Venezuelan gang members have “taken over” its buildings, trying to kick out apartment managers and extort rent payments. The apartments, owned by CBZ Management, are home to hundreds of people, including many new immigrants who were placed there by local nonprofits.
Local officials acknowledge that the gang Tren de Aragua has a presence in the Denver metro area, but claim it is relatively small, and dwarfed by the activities of domestic gangs. Police have acknowledged allegations of rent theft at the affected buildings.
Complaints from residents about criminal activity have also surfaced. Cindy Romero said she captured video of armed men entering an apartment at The Edge at Lowry, which she shared with local media. She told CBS News that she regularly saw people with automatic weapons and witnessed shootouts, with the police offering little help.
However, many residents of the apartments say the talk of gang control is false or exaggerated. At a recent press conference, some said that the video of the armed men was a “one-time” event. And they also said that they were more concerned about their landlord and the mismanagement and neglect of the building.
Apartment residents also said the attention on the situation has made them the subject of death threats and racist rhetoric from outsiders.
Trump previously talked about the Aurora apartments on a podcast and at a speech in Michigan, where he stoked fears of “migrant crime.” Researchers have repeatedlydebunked the idea that immigrants — whether or not they are documented — commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans. Other research has found no connection between the number of undocumented residents in a community and its crime rates.
Trump also raised other contested — and sometimes unfounded — claims about immigrants, including that recent immigrants are eating house pets in Ohio. “They are eating cats and they are eating the pets of people that live there,” he said. Officials in Ohio say that’s not happening.
During the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris defended her record on immigration, portraying herself as a prosecutor who has cracked down on trans-national criminal organizations. And she blamed Trump for sinking a bipartisan immigration proposal earlier this year.
“He preferred to run on the problem, instead of fixing it,” she argued.
More on the claims in Aurora
Police officials in Denver and Aurora have linked members of the Tren de Aragua gang to several specific crimes, including an attempted murder at Fitzsimons Place and the robbery of a Denver jewelry store. Aurora police say they’ve arrested 10 people suspected of being Tren de Aragua members in recent weeks.
Officials in Denver and Aurora strongly dispute the idea that the gang has taken control of any part of either city.
Rep. Jason Crow, the Democrat who represents Aurora in Congress, earlier said that the “gang issues are being grossly exaggerated and misrepresented,” arguing that gang activity in the city is “consistent with trends across Colorado” and that violent crime is declining across the metro.
“We have isolated incidents of gang activity that’s being addressed by federal and local law enforcement and the metro gang task force,” he recently said. “They are doing exactly what law enforcement should be doing. And they’re addressing it with focus and with intentions. And I’ve talked to them and I’m confident they are going to continue to do so.”
The flow of immigrants to the Denver metro area dropped dramatically after President Joe Biden enacted new policies limiting asylum claims over the summer — though only after more than 40,000 people arrived in recent years. The issue of recent immigration is likely to dominate not just the presidential election, but also contested Congressional elections in Colorado.
In recent days, Aurora has been the subject of national media stories, viral online claims and political rhetoric, all centered on the allegation that a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, has taken control of certain apartment buildings in the city.
After reviewing media reports, visiting the affected apartment complexes, and speaking to residents, officials, and community members, Denverite sorted out what is true, what is contested and what is unknown. Here’s what we know and what we don’t.
A landlord has claimed the gang has “taken over” apartment buildings
The apartments in question are owned by CBZ Management, a company based in New York. Hundreds of recent immigrants, many of them Venezuelan, live at the buildings. Over the summer, the landlord claimed that Tren de Aragua had “taken over” the complexes, including by shaking down renters for money and kicking out the apartment’s managers.
Various reports have referred to gang presence at apartment buildings including The Aspen Grove, Whispering Pines and The Edge at Lowry. On Wednesday, CBS News published further details related to Whispering Pines. A law firm working for a lender for the complex says members of Tren de Aragua had “threatened to kill … members of Whispering Pines management,” and had demanded half of the building’s rent revenue, according to CBS.
Tren de Aragua does have a local presence
Police officials in Denver and Aurora say Tren de Aragua has a small local presence. They’ve linked gang members to some crimes, including an alleged attempted murder at Fitzsimons Place and the robbery of a Denver jewelry store. A video also shows heavily armed men in one of the apartment buildings, The Edge at Lowry, though it is unclear if they were Tren de Aragua members or what they were doing.
But local officials have denied the takeover claims
City officials deny that the gang has taken control of any part of either Denver or Aurora, including the apartment buildings. However, Aurora police acknowledged on Wednesday that they had received complaints of rent theft at three CBZ Management communities; they have not made any arrests in those cases.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston claimed that among thousands of new immigrants to the area, around 15 are involved in criminal activity. Aurora police say they have identified 10 members of the gang, six of whom were in custody on Wednesday. The Denver mayor said that Tren de Aragua has much less of a presence locally than the Crips and Bloods, two American gangs.
The landlord was already in trouble with the city
Long before the arrival of Venezuelan immigrants, CBZ Management’s buildings were the target of city enforcement actions. Residents have complained of pest infestations, broken utilities, and structural damage, much of which Denverite documented at a recent visit.
The city recently shut down one of the buildings, Fitzsimons Place on Nome Street, over habitability issues, forcing out hundreds of residents. That building had also been the site of a Tren de Aragua-linked shooting over the summer, which led to an attempted murder charge against a member.
These issues have contributed to a hostile relationship between the landlord and the city, with Mayor Mike Coffman calling the owners “slumlords.”
Some residents have denied the allegations of gang control
At a press conference on Tuesday, dozens of residents said that the landlord’s claims of shakedowns and gang control were false. They said that the video of the armed men in one apartment building was a “one-time” event. And they also said that they were more concerned about their landlord and the mismanagement of the building.
But complaints from residents about criminal activity have also surfaced. Cindy Romero said she captured the video of the armed men at The Edge at Lowry. She told CBS News that she saw people with automatic weapons and witnessed shootouts, with the police offering little help.
Tren de Aragua has been a growing concern nationwide
Tren de Aragua, translated Aragua Train, is a gang that was formed by prisoner Héctor “El Niño” Guerrero more than a decade ago in the Tocorón prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua. Federal officials say the group has grown out of South America and into the U.S. over the last six years.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions on the gang in July for “a variety of criminal activities including human smuggling and trafficking, gender-based violence, money laundering, and illicit drug trafficking.” The U.S. and Colombia are offering $12 million for the capture of its leaders. Some media reports have said the gang has about 5,000 members worldwide.
Politicians have amplified and in some cases exaggerated claims
The Colorado Republican Party claimed that “gangs have taken over Aurora.” Former President Donald Trump said on a podcast that “very tough young thugs” with “big guns” were “taking over big areas” of Aurora. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, has denied many of those claims, saying Tren de Aragua instead has a limited presence.
The social media uproar may be endangering residents
Residents of the apartments say they’ve been the subject of death threats and racist rhetoric from outsiders. Denverite reviewed some of the messages. Some of those messages appear to be coming from would-be vigilantes who are responding to claims of a gang takeover.
Police say they’re responding
Aurora Police have been investigating the claims of gang activity, and they are joining state agencies in a task force to respond to the gang’s presence. A spokesperson for the Denver Police Department told Denverite that its officers are working with Denver apartment managers, residents and others to ensure they stay safe.
What we don’t know
The extent of Tren de Aragua’s influence
While some members of the gang have been implicated in crimes in the Denver metro, the overall influence of Tren de Aragua in Aurora remains hard to quantify. Officials have not confirmed the scale of the gang’s operations.
The extent to which the property owner’s allegations are true
Aurora police confirmed that they’ve heard resident complaints about rent theft. But with no arrests being made, the details of the alleged crimes and potential perpetrators remain unclear. Denverite has not yet heard eyewitness testimony about the rent theft and extortion claims. Though it is clear the gang has a presence in some CBZ buildings, the extent of its operations and impact remains contested among both residents and officials.
A handful of run-down Aurora apartment buildings and a Venezuelan gang have become a focal point of the United States immigration debate.
But several city and law enforcement officials say the gang’s presence and influence in the city is smaller than what national news outlets and some politicians have claimed.
The apartments’ landlord recently said that members of the gang Tren de Aragua took possession of the buildings, shook down residents for rent money and chased out the property managers — but those are allegations that many residents and some city officials deny.
In recent weeks, rumors surrounding the gang have gone viral on social media. News outlets have published sensational headlines after a video of armed men at an apartment in Aurora was widely shared.
In response, some have called for mass deportations and violence against new immigrants in the Denver metro. Elected officials and political candidates have even accused the leaders of Aurora and Denver of a coverup, and blamed Denver’s immigration policies for what’s happening.
Meanwhile, many residents of the apartment buildings in question are receiving death threats and fear for their safety, not from the Venezuelan gang but from would-be vigilantes who are threatening the residents with violence.
A stew of hot takes, hyperbole, conflicting statements from officials, anonymous sourcing, racist speech, and political campaigning have defined the conversation.
It’s hard to know who to trust, what’s real and what isn’t.
Jeraldine Mazo, a resident of Aurora’s Edge at Lowry apartment complex, speaks during a press conference to “set the record straight” on an alleged “gang takeover” of the property. Sept. 4, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Denverite reviewed the news stories and the claims made by the landlord, officials, politicians, activists and the police. We spent time at one apartment building, speaking with residents; observed the City of Aurora displacing residents of another building; and reviewed federal and local government statements.
We learned the apartment buildings have been in terrible shape for years and still are. Many residents say they are not scared of gangs. They fear the owners of the complex. And local police departments say Tren de Aragua does not have an outsized role in metro area crimes, despite claims the gang has taken over the Denver area.
Still, the gang’s members have allegedly been involved in one high-profile robbery and an attempted homicide in the metro.
We could not substantiate whether they shook renters down for money and chased out property managers.
Let’s start with what we know.
There are a handful of apartment buildings in Aurora owned by CBZ Management, a company based in Brooklyn, New York. For years, residents of several of those buildings have complained about rats, mice and insects, concerns over crime and poor treatment by management.
All that predates the arrival of tens of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants in the Denver area.
For the past two years, Aurora has been working to get the property owners into compliance with the law, said Jessica Prosser, Aurora’s director of housing and community services, at a press conference in August.
Many newly arrived Venezuelans and other Spanish-speaking immigrants were placed into those apartments by nonprofits. Those homes, as uninhabitable as many of the units may be, are among the few that are affordable to newly arriving immigrant families.
“We have received numerous complaints and allegations about stolen rent from residents at all three CBZ complexes,” Aurora Police spokesperson Joe Moylan wrote Denverite in an email. “But to date we have not established probable cause to make any arrests on those claims.”
We know there have been recent assaults and shootings at and near some of the properties. Aurora Police arrested a man on suspicion of attempted homicide and say he is connected to Tren de Aragua.
We know there is a video of men with guns entering one of the apartments at The Edge at Lowry. Aurora Police have not confirmed the identity of those men.
At that same apartment complex, Denverite reporters saw multiple mice and bedbugs; mold growing in a bathtub; a stove that hasn’t worked for two months; a sink that won’t drain; and a broken fan.
Juan Carlos Alvarado Jimenes holds up mice he just pulled out of an apartment at Aurora’s Edge at Lowry apartment complex, during a press conference shaming their landlord and to “set the record straight” on an alleged “gang takeover” of the property. Sept. 4, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
We also know the entire city of Aurora has not been taken over by the gang, as the Colorado Republican Party claimed in a fundraising email. Police have been at The Edge at Lowry speaking with residents, and the Aurora police chief says that no gang is running the apartment complex. Residents said the same at a Tuesday press conference at the building.
Mayors in both Denver and Aurora say Tren de Aragua has a small presence in the region and law enforcement is monitoring it carefully, making arrests when appropriate — and that they will continue to do so.
“We think this is a vanishingly small number of people,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. “And we feel very confident (that the) situation’s under control, and we are ahead of the curve on being able to prevent more violence from happening.”
We also know that both cities have long histories with violent crime and criminal organizations that date back decades before the arrival of more than 40,000 new immigrants.
Beyond that, the truth gets murky.
What is Tren de Aragua?
Tren de Aragua, translated Aragua Train, is a gang that was formed by prisoner Héctor “El Niño” Guerrero more than a decade ago in the Tocorón prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua.
The group took over the prison, installing “a professional baseball field, swimming pools, children’s play equipment — even a small zoo, with monkeys and flamingos,” the Washington Post reported.
When the Venezuelan government took the prison back from the gang in September 2023, Guerrero was not there, but prisoners’ family members, including children, had apparently been left behind.
“Over the past six years, Tren de Aragua leader Niño Guerrero has expanded the group’s criminal network throughout South America and recently extended north into Central America and the United States,” the State Department wrote in a July statement.
For years, the international police organization INTERPOL and governments throughout the Americas have pushed to arrest people tied to Tren de Aragua.
In July 2024, the Biden-Harris administration and Treasury Department declared sanctions on the gang for a variety of criminal activities including “human smuggling and trafficking, gender-based violence, money laundering, and illicit drug trafficking.”
That same month, the United States joined Colombia in offering a $5 million reward for the capture of Guerrero and $7 million more for the capture of other leaders.
Multiple news outlets have reported that the gang has roughly 5,000 members worldwide, though Denverite has not been able to independently confirm that.
What is Tren de Aragua’s presence in Colorado?
Tren de Aragua has a presence in Denver and Aurora, according to city spokespeople.
In June, the family-owned jewelry store Joyeria El Ruby, in Denver’s West Highland neighborhood, was robbed at gunpoint. Police said eight people were involved. Four suspects, Oswaldo Lozada-Solis, 23; Jesus Daniel Lara Del Toro, 20; Jean Franco Torres-Roman, 21; and Edwuimar Nazareth Colina-Romero, 18, were later arrested in El Paso, Texas, in connection to the Colorado crime. They are suspected of being members of the gang.
More recently, Aurora Police also arrested Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, who goes by the nickname “Galleta,” translated “cookie,” in connection to a July 28 shooting at the Fitzsimons Place apartments. The New York Post described him as a “shot-caller” in the gang. But a spokesperson for Aurora said the city’s police department was not aware of his actual status in the gang.
“We are able to confirm Pacheco-Chirino, 22 … is a documented member of Tren de Aragua (TdA),” said Aurora city spokesperson Ryan Luby. “The department is not aware of his status within the gang. He is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
The Aurora Police Department recently joined the Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to form a regional group focused on Tren de Aragua.
“This task force will assist agencies throughout the region with their ongoing investigations with the goal of enhancing communications, sharing intelligence and maximizing investigative resources,” Matthew Longshore, a public information officer for Aurora Police, wrote in a statement.
While the Colorado GOP and an army of TikTokers have claimed Tren de Aragua has taken over Aurora, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman has said that’s not true.
“The problems associated with Venezuelan gang activity has been isolated to properties that are all under the same out-of-state ownership whose problems with code violations and criminal activity preceded the migrant crisis,” he wrote on social media.
Mike Coffman on Nov. 14, 2019. The Aurora mayor says the claims that Tren de Aragua has taken over the city are untrue.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Denver Police Department told Denverite that its officers are working with Denver apartment managers, residents and others to ensure they stay safe. The department is unaware of any apartments taken over by gangs, the spokesperson said.
“DPD is also committed to holding all criminals accountable, regardless of their immigration status,” the department spokesperson wrote. “To assist in these efforts, the community is encouraged to report suspicious activity by calling or texting 911 for emergencies or contacting Crime Stoppers anonymously. The Denver Police Department does not ask witnesses or victims of crime about immigration status, removing a potential barrier to reporting. Interpretation services are also available for people calling to report crimes.”
What about Tren de Aragua and those Aurora apartments?
CBZ Management, which runs several apartment buildings in Aurora, claims that Tren de Aragua has taken control of its properties, kicked out CBZ Management staff, and forced residents to pay gang members rent — allegations widely reported by the New York Post, Fox News and other outlets.
The owners of CBZ Management are facing legal actions from the City of Aurora that started before the landlord made claims about the alleged Tren de Aragua takeover.
CBZ management declined to speak on the record about the claims and the state of the apartment buildings.
Girls sit in the shade as their parents participate in a press conference at Aurora’s Edge at Lowry apartment complex to “set the record straight” on an alleged “gang takeover” of the property. Sept. 4, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Mayor Coffman described the owners as out-of-state “slumlords” in early August. And years of online reviews describe the company’s apartments as unclean, poorly maintained and hotbeds of crime.
“A GANG HAS TAKEN OVER entire apartment complexes in Aurora,” she wrote on social media.
“The national news outlets are doing a great job of their reporting on the Tren de Aragua gang that is in the Denver Metro area,” she added. “I will continue to speak out until our border is closed and this gang is addressed! I hope the local media will now step up and help with the truth.”
News outlets across the United States and even in Venezuela broadcast a video of armed men entering an apartment at one of the complexes. Journalists and politicians claim the video proves members of Tren de Aragua control The Edge at Lowry apartment complex.
CBS News’ Tori Mason interviewed a former resident of The Edge at Lowry who said she recorded the video. Cindy Romero reported seeing an increase in crime over the past year and a half at the complex. She told the station she saw people with automatic weapons and witnessed shootouts, saying the police did little to help her.
“The police would call me and say they weren’t coming unless it was a severe crime,” Romero told Mason. “When I called the police to report a shooting, one officer asked if I had considered moving. If I could have afforded to leave, I would have.”
But some residents of the building, at a press conference on Tuesday, said the men in the video were not residents. It was a one-time event, they said. And while they were concerned about the crime, the video did not demonstrate anything about Tren de Aragua or other gangs controlling the building, they argued.
What do Aurora officials say about the apartment buildings and Venezuelan gangs?
Coffman has denied that the apartments have been “taken over” by Tren de Aragua. But he has also said there is “Venezuelan gang activity” on site.
Aurora’s Interim Police Chief Heather Morris said officers have spent weeks at an apartment community at 12th and Dallas. Officers walked the grounds, trying to better understand what was actually happening, she said.
“We’ve been talking to residents here and learning from them about what’s been going on,” she said. “And there’s definitely a different picture. I’m not saying that there’s not gang members that … live in this community. But what we’re learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex.”
Meanwhile, Coffman posted to Facebook that the City Attorney’s Office was planning more dramatic action at the apartment buildings in response to gang activity.
The city office is “preparing court documents to request an emergency court order to clear the apartment buildings where Venezuelan gang activity has been occurring by declaring the properties a ‘Criminal Nuisance,’” he wrote.
“This will require a municipal judge to issue the order with the goal of getting these properties back under the control of the property owners,” Coffman continued.
The City of Aurora has already shut down one CBZ Management apartment, Fitzsimons Place on Nome Street, leaving more than 300 individuals to face homelessness, stay in city-funded motel rooms, or find other apartments.
Aurora Police officers march into the recently closed Fitzsimons Place apartments in Aurora to make sure people move out. Aug. 13, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
During that mass displacement, more than a dozen residents told Denverite that crime and gang activity were not major concerns at Fitzsimons Place. Denverite spent 16 hours at the community and did not see armed men or criminal activity.
Walk through Aurora, and it’s clear: The gang has not taken over the city, even as some gang members have committed a handful of crimes. Blocks away from The Edge at Lowry, neighbors shop in local stores, mow their lawns, ride their e-bikes and carry on life as usual.
The victims of Tren de Aragua’s shootings and human trafficking crimes are largely Venezuelan immigrants themselves.
Coffman, Johnston and Morris have all encouraged victims of the gang to contact police and have reminded them that they are safe in doing so regardless of what documents they do or don’t have.
“There has been a lot of misleading information shared about what is happening in our city,” city spokesperson Luby said. “Aurora is a safe community. Media have conflated and considerably exaggerated incidents that are isolated to a handful of problem properties alone.”
Mayor Mike Johnston told 9NEWS’ Kyle Clark that the presence is much less significant than that of American street gangs like the Bloods or the Crips. Both gangs have been tied to acts of violence in both cities for decades and continue to have a strong presence in the metro.
What are other state and local leaders saying about Venezuelan gangs?
Gov. Jared Polis has offered state support to Aurora.
“Colorado is a zero tolerance state for illegal activity, taking over buildings has no place in Colorado, and I am confident that the city of Aurora shares this basic value and will enforce the law if it is being violated there,” he wrote in a statement. “I urge them to do so quickly and in a thorough manner.
“Over the last month, I have been in regular contact with the City of Aurora and the Aurora Police Department and have offered any and all state assistance to support their efforts if requested,” he continued. “The state has been ready for weeks to back up any operation by the Aurora Police Department needed to make Aurora safer.”
In response, the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that has advocated for immigrants for decades, rebuked the governor for his statement:
“We are disappointed to see you participate in disinformation and stereotyping,” the organization wrote the governor on Facebook. “In Colorado we value accurate and complete investigations and being provided facts. This post provides neither and doesn’t provide a starting point for real conversations about the tensions we see in community.”
In the meantime, the situation has been a statewide and national focus for Republicans.
“Colorado is under violent attack,” claimed the Colorado GOP, in a recent newsletter.
Legacy media, according to the statement, “is working harder to cover up the illegal immigrant crisis than it is to bring the truth to Colorado families. Venezuelan gangs have taken over Aurora; residents are living in fear as lawlessness and violence rock entire apartment buildings and communities.”
The Colorado GOP also accused law enforcement of letting Tren de Aragua run rampant, and it shared a tweet from a person proposing the National Guard be called in.
The party claimed Councilmember Jurinsky and conservatives have inspired liberals and conservatives alike to speak out “against what they call a very scary situation, where they are powerless against violent illegals at their doorsteps.”
Finally, the state GOP used the situation in Aurora to push people to vote Republican and to go far beyond just combating Tren de Aragua. The party encouraged its base to push for the removal of all undocumented immigrants from Colorado.
“Encourage your city and county to become a non-sanctuary locality,” the party wrote. “If you see illegal migrants in your town, attend your city council meetings and tell your elected officials you want this to stop.”
Even former President Donald Trump amplified the message on the Lex Fridman podcast.
“You see in Aurora, Colorado, a group of very tough young thugs from Venezuela taking over big areas, including buildings,” he said. “They’re taking over buildings. They have their big rifles, but they’re taking over buildings. We’re not going to let this happen. We’re not going to let them destroy our country.”
Aurora officials and residents have, again, denied that the buildings were taken over.
“We have verified and documented 10 TdA members in Aurora,” Aurora Police spokesperson Moylan wrote. “Six remain in custody.”
Johnston says roughly 15 or 20 of the more than 40,000 new immigrants who arrived are committing crimes in Denver. The police are monitoring them with both covert and overt operations. And there is not a public safety crisis associated with the gang, Johnston says.
“We are very confident that this is not a crisis facing the City and County of Denver,” he said. “We are monitoring it closely like we monitor any public safety issue in the city. We do not have any situation where we have gangs that have overtaken apartment buildings or neighborhoods or anything else in Denver.”
In fact, the only crime Johnston said he’s aware of associated with Tren de Aragua was the heist at the jewelry store.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Mayor says there is not a public safety crisis associated with the Tren de Aragua gang,Rebecca Slezak/Special to Denverite
“We continue to see that the overwhelming majority of newcomers who arrived are working two to three jobs and do everything they can to take care of themselves and their family,” Johnston said. “And they came here to try to pursue the American dream. And so they are great additions to the community.”
As Johnston sees it, the national media blitz over the Aurora apartments is just one more example of a story blowing up in the context of the national presidential election.
“In a time with a pretty high profile, pretty confrontational presidential election, there are a lot of folks that would like to make national stories and national crisis out of things that just aren’t,” Johnston said. “This is not a national crisis and not a local crisis. It’s an issue we’ll be mindful of and careful of, but we do not see any pervasive threat to the safety of Denverites.”
What do community organizers and residents on the ground say?
Nate Kassa, an organizer with the East Colfax Community Collective, told Denverite he and his coworkers have spoken to dozens of residents at all of the CBZ apartments making headlines. Those residents denied the claim that the building had been taken over by Tren de Aragua or other gangs.
At a Tuesday press conference, dozens of people who lived there also shared the same message.
Residents of Aurora’s Edge at Lowry apartment complex, and their supporters, hold signs during a press conference to “set the record straight” on an alleged “gang takeover” of the property. Sept. 4, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The media coverage and racist rhetoric have put residents in danger, Kassa said.
Denverite reviewed texts sent to renters that referred to the tenants as “animals.”
Multiple residents, Kassa said, have received death threats from strangers.
“I hope you know the Colorado veterans are building a militia with more fire power than you guys could ever imagine,” texted one stranger to a resident.
Denverite toured Moises Didenot’s apartment at The Edge at Lowry, where he lives with his wife and his sixth-grade daughter.
Moises Didenot gives a tour of his apartment at Aurora’s Edge at Lowry complex, which he said has been long neglected by his landlord, after a press conference to “set the record straight” on an alleged “gang takeover” of the property. Sept. 4, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
His stove hasn’t worked for two months, he said. His sink does not drain. Mold is growing in his bathtub. And gangs of mice, cockroaches and bedbugs infest his apartment.
He says the media has spread lies about who actually lives at The Edge at Lowry.
“They’re trying to put us all in one group, put us all in one bag,” said Didenot, flanked by dozens of residents frustrated by the media’s coverage of the apartments and the accusations that Tren de Aragua controls them. “They’re trying to say that here there are delinquents, that here there are criminals. Here there are moms, there are families, there are fathers. To me … the only criminal here is the owner of the building.”
Since they moved in, Didenot’s family has been on the verge of eviction.
“Every month they’re really going to tell me that they’re going to cancel my contract and kick me out when I don’t pay,” he said. “But when I ask them to fix the piping that’s blocked, the toilets that don’t flush, the kitchen that’s falling apart — very quickly, they disappear.”
Moises Didenot holds up documents that show he’s been paying his rent at Aurora’s Edge at Lowry apartment complex, despite that his landlord has rarely worked to fix his place, during a press conference to “set the record straight” on an alleged “gang takeover” of the property. Sept. 4, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Jeraldine Mazo, a Colombian resident of The Edge at Lowry, said the national media’s claims that Venezuelan gangs have taken over the building have her worried. As she sees it, they’re fueled by racism against Venezuelans.
She said she’s been unable to find work because companies believe she’s from Venezuela.
“We are not causing problems,” Mazo said. “All we want is … a place for us to live, a place for our kids to live with our families.”
Members of Housekeys Action Network Denver, a nonprofit that fights for housing security, have been at all of the apartments in question for weeks and say they have never feared any of the residents.
“Never once were we in fear for our lives, never once were we threatened, never once did we witness any sort of gang activities or even weapons — just vulnerable victims of an oppressive slumlord who would gladly reap millions from their payments and still defile their name,” the group wrote in a statement.
Jennifer Piper, of the American Friends Service Committee, has been working on immigration issues in the metro for more than two decades.
“This election cycle has turned what should have just been a humanitarian issue into a crisis of stereotyping and xenophobia, really, for both parties,” she said. “It’s very concerning. I feel like we haven’t seen this level of terrible rhetoric, rhetoric from the federal government, since I started doing this work.”
The real story, as she sees it, is that apartments in Aurora are allowed to deteriorate and people are forced to live in undignified places.
“All this stuff about Tren de Aragua is a great distraction from the systemic problems that exist around housing in the city of Aurora,” she said.
What’s next?
Mayor Coffman is pushing the City of Aurora to shut down all the apartments under CBZ Management associated with Venezuelan gang activities.
If that happens, countless families and individuals will face homelessness, Kassa said.
However, a spokesperson for the City of Aurora said on Tuesday that closing the buildings is not immediately on the table.
Meanwhile, the Aurora Police and the larger task force organized around the issue are continuing to research Tren de Aragua.
Tenants, Housekeys Action Network Denver, and the East Colfax Community Collective are asking CBZ Management to fulfill its responsibility to residents and ensure they have basic living standards or relocate tenants to other habitable units.
The group also wants Aurora to back off of Coffman’s plan to shut down the remaining apartments and instead enforce the zoning code against the management company.
This story has been updated to include the perspective of Cindy Romero, a former resident of The Edge at Lowry. We have also added new information from the Aurora Police Department about the number of members of Tren de Aragua that officers have identified and complaints from residents who say their rent was stolen.
The local director of a mission group in Haiti and a missionary couple from the U.S. were attacked and fatally shot by gang members after leaving a youth group activity at a church, a family member told The Associated Press. Thursday’s slayings of Jude Montis, the local director of Missions in Haiti Inc., and Davy and Natalie Lloyd, a young married couple from the U.S., happened in the community of Lizon in northern Port-au-Prince. They were killed as the capital crumbles under the relentless assault of violent gangs that control 80% of the capital city while authorities await the arrival of a police force from Kenya as part of a U.N.-backed deployment aimed at quelling gang violence in the troubled Caribbean country.Here are some things to know about the missionary work that focused on helping the children of Haiti, and the gang attack that took three lives. Missions in Haiti’s website says its goal is “to see the Gospel of Christ make a difference in the lives of Haiti’s young people.”Davy Lloyd’s parents, David and Alicia Lloyd of Oklahoma, started the organization in 2000 with the aim of focusing on the children of Haiti. David and Alicia Lloyd are full-time missionaries in Haiti.”Although the entire nation is steeped in poverty, the children suffer the worst,” they wrote on the website. “Thousands are malnourished, uneducated, and headed for hopeless lives apart from Christ.”Hannah Cornett, Davy’s sister, told The Associated Press that they grew up in Haiti. Davy Lloyd went to the U.S. to attend a Bible college and married Natalie in June 2022. After the wedding, the couple wasted little time moving to Haiti to do humanitarian work.Cornett said Montis, a Haitian, had worked at Missions in Haiti for 20 years. The organization’s efforts include House of Compassion, which provides housing for 36 children — 18 boys and 18 girls, the website said. “All are destined to stay at House of Compassion until they have finished school and are ready to be on their own.”Good Hope Boys’ Home provides a home for 22 boys, the website said. The organization also built a church, a bakery and a school with more than 240 students, the website said. A Facebook posting on the Missions in Haiti page stated that Davy Lloyd, 23, and Natalie Lloyd, 21, along with some children, were leaving a church when gang members in three trucks ambushed them. Davy Lloyd later called his family to tell them that gang members hit him on the head with the barrel of a gun, forced him upstairs, stole their belongings and left him tied up, Cornett said. As people were helping untie Davy Lloyd, another group of armed gunmen showed up, Cornett said.”No one understood what they were doing, not sure what took place but one was shot and killed and now this gang went into full attack mode,” Missions in Haiti’s posting said.The couple and Montis fled to a house connected to the mission.”They tried to take cover in there, but the gang shot up the house,” said Cornett.Ben Baker, Natalie Lloyd’s father and a Republican state representative in Missouri, posted on Facebook on Friday that the bodies of Davy and Natalie Lloyd were safely transported to the U.S. Embassy. Cornett said Montis left behind two children, ages 2 and 6. Montis’ family could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. It’s unclear if he used social media and, if so, whether his profiles are public. Missions in Haiti did not immediately return the AP’s request for comment Friday.Baker wrote on Facebook that his heart was broken “in a thousand pieces.””I’ve never felt this kind of pain,” Baker wrote. “Most of you know my daughter and son-in-law Davy and Natalie Lloyd are full time missionaries in Haiti. They were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed. They went to Heaven together. Please pray for my family we desperately need strength. And please pray for the Lloyd family as well. I have no other words for now.”___Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed.
The local director of a mission group in Haiti and a missionary couple from the U.S. were attacked and fatally shot by gang members after leaving a youth group activity at a church, a family member told The Associated Press.
Thursday’s slayings of Jude Montis, the local director of Missions in Haiti Inc., and Davy and Natalie Lloyd, a young married couple from the U.S., happened in the community of Lizon in northern Port-au-Prince. They were killed as the capital crumbles under the relentless assault of violent gangs that control 80% of the capital city while authorities await the arrival of a police force from Kenya as part of a U.N.-backed deployment aimed at quelling gang violence in the troubled Caribbean country.
Here are some things to know about the missionary work that focused on helping the children of Haiti, and the gang attack that took three lives.
Missions in Haiti’s website says its goal is “to see the Gospel of Christ make a difference in the lives of Haiti’s young people.”
Davy Lloyd’s parents, David and Alicia Lloyd of Oklahoma, started the organization in 2000 with the aim of focusing on the children of Haiti. David and Alicia Lloyd are full-time missionaries in Haiti.
“Although the entire nation is steeped in poverty, the children suffer the worst,” they wrote on the website. “Thousands are malnourished, uneducated, and headed for hopeless lives apart from Christ.”
Hannah Cornett, Davy’s sister, told The Associated Press that they grew up in Haiti. Davy Lloyd went to the U.S. to attend a Bible college and married Natalie in June 2022. After the wedding, the couple wasted little time moving to Haiti to do humanitarian work.
Cornett said Montis, a Haitian, had worked at Missions in Haiti for 20 years.
The organization’s efforts include House of Compassion, which provides housing for 36 children — 18 boys and 18 girls, the website said. “All are destined to stay at House of Compassion until they have finished school and are ready to be on their own.”
Good Hope Boys’ Home provides a home for 22 boys, the website said. The organization also built a church, a bakery and a school with more than 240 students, the website said.
A Facebook posting on the Missions in Haiti page stated that Davy Lloyd, 23, and Natalie Lloyd, 21, along with some children, were leaving a church when gang members in three trucks ambushed them.
Davy Lloyd later called his family to tell them that gang members hit him on the head with the barrel of a gun, forced him upstairs, stole their belongings and left him tied up, Cornett said.
As people were helping untie Davy Lloyd, another group of armed gunmen showed up, Cornett said.
“No one understood what they were doing, not sure what took place but one was shot and killed and now this gang went into full attack mode,” Missions in Haiti’s posting said.
The couple and Montis fled to a house connected to the mission.
“They tried to take cover in there, but the gang shot up the house,” said Cornett.
Ben Baker, Natalie Lloyd’s father and a Republican state representative in Missouri, posted on Facebook on Friday that the bodies of Davy and Natalie Lloyd were safely transported to the U.S. Embassy.
Cornett said Montis left behind two children, ages 2 and 6.
Montis’ family could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. It’s unclear if he used social media and, if so, whether his profiles are public. Missions in Haiti did not immediately return the AP’s request for comment Friday.
Baker wrote on Facebook that his heart was broken “in a thousand pieces.”
“I’ve never felt this kind of pain,” Baker wrote. “Most of you know my daughter and son-in-law Davy and Natalie Lloyd are full time missionaries in Haiti. They were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed. They went to Heaven together. Please pray for my family we desperately need strength. And please pray for the Lloyd family as well. I have no other words for now.”
___
Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed.
It’s been six months since Sandy De La Mora’s husband, Jose Quezada, was gunned down while volunteering at a community event meant to curb gang violence in Wilmington.
After a months-long investigation, Los Angeles police on Thursday announced that two men have been charged in connection with Quezada’s death.
But De La Mora is still searching for answers for herself and the three sons she and Quezada, 46, shared. She wants to know why.
“My husband did not deserve this,” she said during a news conference Thursday. Addressing the accused killers, she added, “He was a great husband, an amazing father, an amazing friend, and now we are left torn and broken because of your cowardice.”
Sergio Esteban, 28, and Estevan Hernandez, 27, are both charged with murder. Hernandez is facing a sentencing enhancement for personal use of a firearm, court records show.
Esteban was arrested in December. Hernandez was also identified as a suspect at the time, police said, but investigators could not find him in Los Angeles. With assistance from the FBI, Hernandez was located in Mexico in January. He was taken into custody by local authorities and turned over to the Los Angeles Police Department this month.
Capt. Jamie Bennett described the men, who are both from San Pedro, as “documented gang members” and said the shooting appeared to be gang-motivated. Authorities did not provide details about how the two men were identified as suspects.
Esteban is being held on $2-million bail and Hernandez in lieu of $3-million bail, jail records show.
Quezada had just finished grilling at the “Summer Night Lights” event on July 27 at the Wilmington Recreation Center on North Neptune Avenue when the men approached the crowd of about 100 people and opened fire, police said.
Quezada was struck by the gunfire. Paramedics with the Los Angeles Fire Department tried unsuccessfully to revive him.
Quezada owned a maintenance business but spent his free time volunteering in the Wilmington community. He organized fundraisers for local families who lost loved ones to gang violence or illness, coached youth baseball and helped out at the Wilmington Recreation Center and the Wilmington Teen Center, said Mike Herrera, the teen center’s director.
“He was just that kind of guy. If the community needed something he was ready to help,” Herrera said. “Even the day he died he was working trying to keep kids off the streets.”
The neighborhood kids knew him as “coach,” and his barbecued ribs and chicken always drew a crowd, Herrera said.
Summer Night Lights, which launched in 2008, is a city program that holds community events offering such things as free food, sports and activities in neighborhoods harmed by violence.
“It is important for this community to know what has occurred and for us to join together to denounce senseless acts of violence in our communities,” LAPD Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides said during the news conference.
Herrera can’t wrap his mind around why anyone would shoot Quezada. Although he wasn’t in a gang and actively worked to keep kids out of them, Quezada was known for being able to talk with anyone whether they were gang-affiliated or not, Herrera said.
“They caught the murderers, but it’s not going to bring him back,” Herrera said. “There’s no answers in a situation like this. It’s just a tragedy.”
