Denver police officials said Monday they recovered handguns — one of them modified to fire as a fully-automatic weapon — from two 17-year-old boys after one of the teens was shot by a Denver officer responding to a report of gunfire.
“We very easily could be talking about a death, given the fact that there were individuals running around in our community, endangering the community, armed with weapons, blatantly firing weapons that they never should have even been able to possess,” Police Chief Ron Thomas said at a briefing Monday on the Feb. 24 shooting.
Officers responded to two alerts from a system that monitors for the sound of gunfire at around 10:40 p.m. last Monday near 13th Ave. and Lowell Boulevard, a block away from Paco Sanchez Park. A resident in the area also called 911 to report the shots, and said that he saw five individuals leaving the area on bikes and scooters.
Five spent shell casings were found at the scene, and officers began searching for suspects in the area, eventually finding four individuals on scooters near the park. An officer, who DPD declined to name as the investigation is ongoing, observed a subject holding a firearm.
“While chasing the subject the officer described seeing the subject turn his shoulder towards him while still holding the firearm,” said Commander Matt Clark, who runs the major crimes investigations unit. “Fearing that the subject would shoot the officer, or other officers who were in the area, the pursuing officer discharged multiple rounds from his duty handgun.”
In body-worn camera footage released by DPD, the officer is running into the park after an individual, and yells, “Drop the f— gun, I will shoot you!” The officer fires shots when the individual turns toward him. The officer continues to chase the suspects into the park, eventually locating an individual laying in the grass by a concrete path, with a puddle of blood on the concrete nearby.
The officer fired 10 shots at the juvenile, and hit him at least once in the leg. Clark said it is not yet clear if that was the only bullet that hit the teen.
The officer has been on the force since 2021, and has not previously been involved in a shooting, said Clark. He’s on modified duty while the incident is under investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado State Patrol, the DPD Homicide unit, and the Denver District Attorney’s office. The Office of the Independent Monitor is also overseeing the investigation.
Clark asked for anyone who has information or video of the incident to contact the police.
The video shows that after the teen went to the ground, he complained that he did not have a gun.
“I don’t have a gun, sir,” he can be heard saying on the video. “You guys shot me for nothing.”
The officer then yelled to other officers on scene to fan out and look for a gun in the park. Clark said that they found a handgun with a live round in the chamber, and a clip of ammunition ejected from the gun nearby, with eight live rounds.
The injured juvenile is being held on attempted homicide charges related to a different shooting in southwest Denver in early February. Clark said the officer immediately recognized him as a suspect in that earlier shooting.
Another 17-year-old was found with a Glock handgun that had been modified to fire in fully automatic mode. Clark did not identify the suspects because charges are pending and they are underage.
“I am comfortable with the actions of the officer,” said Thomas. “I really do believe that he perceived a significant threat. Obviously this is a significant threat to our community, individuals that have already shown a propensity to fire weapons, automatic weapons even.”
A review of DPD data shows a growth in the number of unlawful discharge of a weapon incidents in the West Colfax neighborhood. From 35 in 2020 to 59 reported last year.
Thomas noted that Paco Sanchez Park area has been identified as a high crime location. He said the department has worked to install more lighting in the area, and assisted the city in shutting down a liquor store not far from the shooting that has been a crime hot spot.
“And so we have done some significant things to improve safety in that community and in that neighborhood,” said Thomas. “And so we'll have to continue to review to see if there's still need for some adaptations.”
