Denver police officer fatally shot at park concert

Topics: Daily Blotter

CBS file

(CBS/AP) DENVER - A female police officer was fatally shot in the head Sunday when gunfire erupted at a city park where families gathered for a free weekly jazz concert, Denver police said.

Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson said the officer was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police are now searching for a suspect in what Jackson described as an isolated incident.

More than 1,000 people were reportedly at City Park. This is where the city holds a free concert series during the summer months for families and young children. At least three shots were fired shortly after the jazz band finished, sending waves of people running from the northwest side of the pond and stage area.

The officer was a single mother, according to the Denver Post. Chief Robert White told the Post that a person in possession of a gun was taken into custody but didn't confirm whether that person was a suspect.

City Park is one Denver's most famous and sprawls across several hundred acres east of downtown, according to The Associated Press. The jazz concert that performed on Sunday was the fourth of 10 shows scheduled for this summer. The mayor said late Sunday that the concerts should continue.

"We will not surrender what we consider special in this city to anyone," Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said.

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