Police Seek Suspect in Overnight Colfax Murder
By Brian Maass
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver police are looking for the gunman who killed one man and injured another in an overnight shooting on the 500 block of East Colfax Avenue in Denver.
According to Denver police, the incident began as a disturbance at around 2 a.m. Saturday which escalated to gunshots. When it was over, two victims were transported to Denver Health Medical Center. One was pronounced dead at the hospital, the second is suffering from non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, according to Denver Police spokesman Doug Schepman.
Schepman said police believe there was one gunman but no suspect has been identified or arrested. Schepman said investigators are hoping to interview the victim who survived the shooting.
At about the same time, shots were being fired in numerous other Denver neighborhoods, but with less lethal results. Around 31st Avenue and Lafayette Street, residents awoke to gunshots in the middle of the night. A 15-year--old boy told CBS4, "My grandma woke me up when she heard gunshots at about one in the morning. Around eight or nine shots," said the teen. "Pretty scary, pretty scary. Lots of action."
Nearby, another teenager in a ground floor apartment said, "It makes me feel unsafe because once I hear gunshots we all get down."
He demonstrated how he and his family lay on the floor, turn off the TV and lights when they hear gunshots, which has happened several times.
"It's scary because people can get hurt or killed or something bad might happen."
In southwest Denver on West Dakota Avenue, residents woke up Saturday morning to find bright yellow flyers on their doors that had been left there by Denver police.
"A gunfire incident was reported in your neighborhood on 9/30/16 at 8:30 p.m.," read the flyers.
Residents with any information on the gunshots were being urged to contact Denver Police District 4.
Close by, Frankie Casias said she often hears gunshots in her neighborhood.
"It happens a lot during the summer," said Casias, who lives in the Sun Valley neighborhood. "That's when you turn off the lights and close the curtains. A little scary. A neighbor had a bullet go through her kitchen window."
CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.