Suspect injured in police-involved shooting at Denver park Monday

paco sanchez park (copy)

A Denver Police Department officer shot a suspect and arrested another after reports of gunshots near a park Monday evening.

Officers responded to the area of West 13th Avenue and Lowell Boulevard — near Paco Sanchez Park — around 10:30 p.m. Monday evening after receiving a shot spotter alert, according to a social media post by the department. 

Upon arrival, officers found shell casings and began searching, leading them Paco Sanchez Park, Chief Ron Thomas said at a news conference following the shooting.

Four men were found in the park around 11:30 p.m., past park hours. Officers asked the four to stop but they ran. One dropped a handgun and another brandished one, causing an officer to fire at him multiple times, according to Thomas.

The suspect suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital. The other was arrested. The final two suspects got away, with officers beginning a search in the area that lasted until around 4 a.m., the department said.

The other two suspects have not been arrested as of Tuesday afternoon and investigators are working to identify them. 

Thomas called the park a place that has “been known previously for shots being fired in the area.”

The park was one of the five “hot spots” that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston listed as a priority to improve public safety in his 2024 priorities. Johnston’s  goal was to reduce gun violence by 20% by the end of the year.

The officer, who was not identified, was placed on administrative duty pending the results of the investigation, as per protocol. 

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