Colorado

5 Dead, Including Gunman, in Denver-Area Shooting Spree

The shootings started shortly after 5 p.m. in central Denver and continued in neighboring Lakewood

Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen
Photo by Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

A gunman killed four people and injured a police officer after opening fire in several locations around the Denver area, police said Monday.

The gunman also died Monday after exchanging gunfire with officers, Lakewood police said.

Police said they were still investigating what led to the shootings.

“We need to dig in and find out what the motive was behind this,” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said at a news conference.

The shootings started shortly after 5 p.m. in central Denver, where two women were killed and a man was injured, Pazen said.

A short time later, a man was fatally shot several blocks away, Pazen said. While in pursuit after that shooting, police officers exchanged gunfire with a suspect, who then fled to the nearby city of Lakewood.

Just before 6 p.m., the Lakewood police received a report of shots fired at a business, Lakewood police spokesman John Romero said.

A gunshot victim was later found and pronounced dead at the scene, Romero said. Police officers identified the car and the shooting suspect, though the suspect was not publicly identified at the joint news conference.

Romero said that when the officers found the car, the gunman opened fire and officers shot back. The gunman then fled on foot to a Hyatt hotel, where he is believed to have shot a clerk. He also shot and wounded a Lakewood police officer after he left the hotel.

The wounded officer was undergoing surgery Monday night and his condition was not immediately known, Romero said. The hotel clerk's condition was not known.

The suspect was later shot and killed in Lakewood, according to Romero. It was not immediately clear if police officers had shot him.

“This one individual was responsible for this very violent crime spree that took place this evening," Pazen said.

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