Four shootings involving police unnerve metro Denver

By Alexander Edwards October 2, 2022 | updated 4 years ago

Broomfield Officer Involved Shooting (copy)

A Denver Police Fugitive Unit officer was shot and a suspect killed during shootout at the corner of Sheridan and Midway boulevards Thursday. Pictured is the white car the suspect was driving.
ALEX EDWARDS/THE DENVER GAZETTE

Four shootings involving the police in four days across metro Denver left two suspects dead, two hospitalized and a Denver officer with gunshot wounds.

But little new information has been released by authorities since the first shooting Thursday night in Broomfield. Neither of the two suspects killed by officers has been identified.

A new group, Denver Task Force to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety, which calls itself “a community-led volunteer task force devoted to transforming public safety,” plans a rally at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Capitol.

The rally aims to “draw attention to the recent rise in officer-involved shootings,” said Dr. Robert Davis, executive director of Seasoned With Grace UnBoxed. “Community leaders from both communities note that these shootings are routinely followed with a lack of information and transparency for the victim’s families and communities.”

Violence has haunted metro Denver in the last several months, injuring or claiming the lives of officers and civilians alike. Last month, a young Arvada officer, Dillon Vakoff, was shot and killed while responding to dispute over custody of children. A few days later, Alexis Hein-Nutz, 24, a deputy from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, died in a hit-and-run incident in the area of Colorado Highway 392 and County Road 37, east of Windsor. In July, Denver police officers fired at a man, whom the police said brandished a gun, in the city’s city’s lower downtown area, leaving him and six bystanders injured.

In the latest spate of shootings, the first, which occurred on Thursday evening, played out in Broomfield, where officers from the Denver Police Fugitive Unit attempted to arrest a homicide suspect.

The suspect fled and crashed the car he was driving at Midway and Sheridan boulevards, authorities said, adding a shootout occurred when the suspect bolted from the car and tried to carjack another. Officers pronounced the suspect dead at the scene, and the injured officer was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette. He was in “stable” condition Thursday, authorities said.

Denver police said Sunday the Adams-Broomfield County Coroner’s Office would release the suspect’s name after the autopsy is completed. The coroner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for information from The Denver Gazette.

A second shooting occurred early Saturday, when police from multiple agencies engaged in a high-speed pursuit near Denver International Airport.

At 5:30 a.m., the Aurora Police Department located a car involved in an earlier robbery and when officers tried to stop the car, it sped away, authorities said.

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said at a Saturday news conference that Aurora “officers attempted a force-stop method, which caused the vehicle to lose control and ultimately crash” at the 7400 block of Gun Club Road.

“The driver was armed with a long gun that he threatened the officers with,” Thomas said. “Three officers discharged their weapons, striking the individual several times.”

The suspect was declared dead at the scene, while an Aurora officer was injured in the crash but is in good condition, according to Thomas.

The Denver Gazette contacted the Aurora Police Department Sunday regarding the officer’s condition and the suspect’s identification, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Denver police said the suspect’s identification would be released by the Denver Medical Examiner’s Office after the autopsy.

The third shooting occurred early Sunday in Boulder’s The Hill neighborhood. A disturbance involving guns was reported at 1:27 a.m. to Boulder police, who were already on foot patrol investigating a call in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Shots were already being fired when officers got to the scene, and they returned fire, authorities said. A suspect was shot in the arm and hospitalized, while the others fled and remained at large, according to Boulder police.

“As they rounded the corner, they encountered armed individuals who were actively shooting,” the police said in a news release. “One officer discharged his weapon during the interaction with the suspects.”

Roads in The Hill reopened by 12:30 p.m., according to Boulder authorities.

Boulder police Chief Maris Herold credited Boulder police officers for their prompt response, saying the shooting could have been much worse.

The fourth shooting, which occurred on an RTD bus late on Sunday, injured a person, the Aurora police said.

The shooting closed all lanes of Colfax between Macon and Oswego, the police said.

“Shots have been fired by the police, one person has been transported to the hospital,” the Aurora police said on its Twitter page.

“The suspect was the only person injured. Their condition is unknown at this time,” the police added later.

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Tags Aurora Aurora Police Department Blue Car Boulder Police Broomfield Police Chief Denver Denver Police Denver's Fugitive Unit Driver Good Samaritan Medical Center Maris Herold Mass Shootings Mass Shootings In The United States Officer Public Information Officer Rachel Haslett Ron Thomas Sheridan White Car White Car Southbound

Alexander Edwards

Reporter