Gunman kills four, injures three, including police officer, in Denver-area ‘killing spree’

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.
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. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

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.
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. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

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.
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. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

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.

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