The man accused of shooting at people in Washington Park, seriously injuring one, did not appear in court for his scheduled hearing Friday morning.

Ryan Egelston, 28, accused of shooting at two people in Washington Park on Feb. 2, did not come over from the county jail in what deputies called a refusal, attorney Robert Halpern said in Denver District Court Judge Alex Myers’ courtroom Friday morning.

The attorney added that he didn’t have much more information about Egelston’s refusal to attend.

The man faces two counts of attempted murder after deliberation, two counts of attempted murder with extreme indifference, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of vehicular eluding and six sentence enhancers for the seemingly unprovoked attacks on two people.

One of the victims was an older man who asked if he could sit next to Egelston on a park bench. The suspect, in response, spit on the man, pushed him, punched him in the lower back and shot out his bicycle tire with a handgun, according to an arrest affidavit from Denver police.

He then walked south into the area of East Kentucky Avenue and South Downing Street and shot at a second person, 23-year-old Ben Varga, from behind, hitting him in the jaw and the neck, police said. Varga underwent multiple surgeries for a fractured vertebra and a broken jaw as a result of the incident.

Egelston told investigators after the incident that he did not intend to shoot anyone, and mentioned that the people he shot toward were somehow involved in “psy-ops,” according to records. He also stated that in May of 2024 he was placed on a mental health hold by Lakewood for suicidal ideations and talk of “psy-ops.”

Halpern said Friday that an evaluator had completed a report on Egelston for a follow-up after restoration. No specifics about the report were mentioned in open court. The Denver Gazette could not determine the contents of the report when it was first discussed in May.

Egelston’s next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3.

Denver Gazette Reporter Sage Kelley contributed to this story.