Gunman kills four, injures three, including police officer, in Denver-area ‘killing spree’
![Gunman kills four, injures three, including police officer, in Denver-area ‘killing spree’](https://thenewyorkmail.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/1-13.png)
At least four people are dead, as well as the suspected gunman, after a cross-city shooting spree near Denver late Monday, according to police.
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, began around 5 p.m. in central Denver, where he killed two women and shot a man, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said during a press conference Monday night. He then moved several blocks away and killed a man.
![Police officers stand outside Sol Tribe tattoo shop on Broadway where two women were killed and a man was injured in a shooting on December 27, in Denver, Colorado.](https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/crovgojThyMeBSwB0zZQo7TjF-U=/800x533/top/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/E5GRLR6TDRDFLEIF2EWMKF7TDU.jpg)
That’s when police arrived and traded gunfire with the suspect, according to Pazen.
The suspect fled to Lakewood, about 10 minutes away, and there killed another person at a business around 6 p.m.
Officers again found his car and exchanged gunfire and the suspect fled on foot to a nearby Hyatt hotel, where he shot the desk clerk and a responding cop.
![Police stand outside the Belmar shopping center where they say the suspect in a shooting spree that claimed five lives was shot and killed on December 27, in Lakewood, Colorado.](https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/uIOaF2rhFRrVaXcMRwK7wbKxqn0=/800x533/top/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/64F2KPLTWJBPTFH62E64BAYCFE.jpg)
The suspect was eventually shot and killed, but Lakewood Police Department spokesman John Romero would not specify if he had been shot by a police officer.
The officer was still in surgery during Monday night’s press conference and a spokesperson for the Lakewood Police Department did not immediately return a request for updates from the Daily News Tuesday morning.
The condition of the clerk is unknown, as well as the man shot at the first location in Denver.
![Police walk through the Belmar shopping center where they say the suspect in a shooting spree that claimed five lives was shot and killed on December 27, in Lakewood, Colorado.](https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/IhPjYaoJjLgxxsGPK1JmQu1IIx8=/800x533/top/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/3TBSRF73TZECBJTUFWJ25XYZDA.jpg)
A spokesperson for the Denver Police Department directed The News to the Denver coroner’s office, which did not immediately return a request for comment.
“We believe this individual was responsible for this very violent series of events that took place in the Denver-metro area,” Pazen said Monday, referring to it as a “killing spree.”
Police have not yet determined a motive.
This marks the 687th mass shooting, identified as four or more people killed or injured, not including the suspect, in the U.S. in 2021, according to the Gun Violence Archive.