By Kieran Nicholson
The Denver Post
DENVER — Police are investigating a shooting in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood that left one person dead and sent at least three others to the hospital in critical condition Monday afternoon.
The shooting happened in the area of 21st and Lawrence streets, south of Coors Field. The shooter is still at large, police said.
Hisam Derani had just gotten off work and was commuting home, parking a scooter and swapping it for a bike, when he heard gunshots.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Derani said.
Derani instinctively ducked behind a vehicle for safety, huddling close to a tire out of view of the shooter. “If he comes across the street…I am screwed,” Derani recalled thinking.
After about a half-dozen shots, with Derani witnessing the initial shot or two before ducking, the gunfire stopped. Derani again looked across the streeet and saw the shooter get into a car, behind the wheel and slam the driver’s door shut before speeding off.
One person in the crowd that was fired upon returned gunfire at the car as it sped away, Derani said. People who were there then just starting walking away, leaving the people who had been shot lying on the ground.
Derani used his cell phone to call 911. Some other witnesses rushed over to the victims to see if they could render aid. Police arrived on the scene quickly.
Derani described the crowd that was fired upon as homeless or indigent people. He said the man who fired into the crowd held the handgun with two hands.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” Derani said. “I saw him (shooter) approach the crowd.”
After giving a statement to police, officers had Derani look at man who had been stopped as a potential suspect, but Derani said it wasn’t the shooter.
Justin Franzen and Robert Abbott were inside the Grafenberg Theater, 1223 21st St., when they heard the gunfire. The pair had been doing some construction work on the theater and had just finished using a nail gun. They were taking a break, eating tacos, when the gunfire rang out. At first, they thought it was just noise from other construction work nearby.
Curious, the pair went outside to check. “We saw the people lying on the sidewalk…we saw people running,” Franzen said. They also called 911. Once police arrived, the two men directed them to a trail of blood leading away from the scene.
“At first, we were just trying to figure out what was going on,” Abbott said. “It’s definitely troubled us.”
Denver police spokesman Doug Schepman confirmed that multiple people were taken to a local hospital, but said there was four people shot and one who died at the scene. Schepman said there were reports of another woman who had been shot in the leg, but authorities have been unable to locate that person.
Police said the injuries suffered by the three victims taken to the hospital appear to be non-life threatening.
It is uncertain whether or not there was one or multiple shooters involved, Schepman said. He also did not elaborate on any potential motive or other suspect information.
“It is too early to be able to say what the motive is here or what exactly happened,” he said.
Streets in the area have been shut down by the shooting as officers and investigators respond.
There was a homicide a few blocks from the area on Sunday, but police said they had no reason to believe the two incidents were connected.