15-year-old killed in Southlands Mall shooting in Aurora identified by coroner

Photo Credit: bjdlzx (iStock).

The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified the teenager who was shot and killed in the Southlands Mall parking lot Saturday evening.

The coroner said 15-year-old Raphael Velin was shot in the parking lot at 6100 Main Street Saturday night at around 8:30 p.m. Aurora police said he died later at a hospital. His death was ruled a homicide by the coroner’s office.

Aurora police on Tuesday told The Denver Gazette that there were no updates on the investigation, but detectives are continuing their work on the case.

Police have yet to arrest any suspects in connection to the incident, but investigators are looking for “four to five black males” who fled from the scene in a black four-door sedan. Police later found the vehicle.

Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo said on Sunday that initial investigations point toward the shooting being preplanned. He also noted that police have increased patrols at the mall.

The department is planning a press conference later this week to provide updates on the shooting.

Police are “asking witnesses from the area, along with residents from the Wheatlands neighborhood near the mall, to check surveillance cameras, including home security cameras, to see if anything from the incident was recorded,” according to the department’s initial press release following the incident.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.


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