Updated 6:50 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4.
Two people were killed and four others injured in a mass shooting at a house party early Sunday in Denver's Green Valley Ranch neighborhood.
The Denver Police Department said that the shooting occurred just before 1:30 a.m. after uninvited people showed up at the party in the 5000 block of North Orleans Court. No arrests had been made by Sunday evening.
"There was a confrontation that escalated to gunfire," according to a statement from DPD. "There is evidence that multiple shots were fired from multiple firearms."
The statement said a boy and a 26-year-old man were killed. The boy was not part of the confrontation, according to police, but was hit by gunfire. Their names were not immediately released.
Four other victims remained hospitalized Sunday evening, one in critical condition. Three are adult men; while the other is male, his age had not been confirmed by DPD by 6 p.m. Sunday.
In the morning hours after the shooting, detectives, crimes scene technicians and patrol officers looked for evidence down the snow-covered streets and sidewalks. Bullet shell casings and spots of blood were found half a block away from the home where the shooting occurred.
As police were at work around the crime scene, witnesses showed up to speak with investigators. One was on crutches and said he had been at the house at the time of the shooting. He was transported to police headquarters for questioning.
Andres Macias said there was a party at the house, and he left at 10 p.m. -- hours before the shooting. He said there was no indication there was a problem when he left the party.
When Macias returned to the house on Sunday morning, he asked police officers if they knew the whereabouts of his niece, who had also been at the party. The officers informed him that she had been taken to headquarters.
The Green Valley Ranch neighborhood saw a large increase in shooting incidents last year. There were 47 reports of unlawful discharge of a firearm in 2023 according to DPD data, a 42 percent increase from a year earlier. There were 45 "aggravated assaults shooting" in 2023, the third-most of any neighborhood in the city, behind Five Points and East Colfax.
Neighbor Dyllan Lial said the once-quiet suburban neighborhood has seen an increasing amount of gun violence in recent years.
"It's been probably about the last two years that it's been getting rougher," Lial said. "It's been getting to the point where we're looking at moving."
Investigators were continuing to process the scene Sunday evening. Police asked that anyone with information contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
