Police are having trouble solving a double homicide that occurred outside a Cambodian New Year celebration in Aurora on Saturday night because several witnesses to the shooting will not talk to investigators.
“The identities of either victims are still not known simply because we’ve encountered a lack of cooperation,” said Aurora police Sgt. Rudy Herrera. “At this point, detectives are less than impressed with the degree of cooperation they are getting from people who could be key witnesses to the investigation.”
The two men were shot to death in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn near Interstate 70 and Chambers Road at 11:35 p.m.
Police are looking into the possibility that the shooting is gang-related.
“At this point, we are not 100 percent sure,” Herrera said. “All options are open.”
The party was held at the John Q. Hammon Convention Center in the back of the Holiday Inn.
Management of the hotel declined to comment Sunday.
“This did not have anything to do with the celebration itself,” Herrera said of the shooting. “Something occurred outside with people that were possibly in the party at one point.”
Two off-duty Aurora police officers were working security inside the convention center when partygoers alerted them to the shooting outside.
The officers ran outside and saw a man giving one of the victims mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and one of the officers began helping with CPR.
The victim was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
The second officer found another man lying nearby. That victim was pronounced dead in the parking lot.
On Sunday, investigators were still outside the hotel measuring the trajectory of three bullet holes that pierced the side of a purple Chrysler PT Cruiser in the parking lot.
They also collected other evidence at the scene to try to reconstruct what happened.
Police are looking for the gunman, who was last seen inside a dark-colored, late ’90s Ford F-150 pickup with an extended cab.
There were several people inside the truck at the time of the shooting, Herrera said.
Police are urging members of the Southeast Asian community to come forward if they know who owns a truck like that or the people who might have been inside.
The victims were both of Southeast Asian descent and in their early 20s.
Anyone with information is urged to call Aurora police Detective R.J. Wilson of the major crimes unit at 303-739-6106.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
