Denver Police Identify Suspect In Deadly Shooting Near Coors Field
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver police say 36-year-old Michael Close faces a first degree murder charge as well as an aggravated assault charge. It follows a shooting that shut down part of lower downtown Denver on Wednesday.
Police responded to a shooting in the 2900 block of North Huron Street in the Ballpark Neighborhood.
"Terrifying very very loud. I thought it was train but I would say there were probably 10 gun shots," a witness told CBS4.
Initial calls stated the suspect was inside an apartment building near a 29th and Huron Street, and police swarmed the area urging residents to stay in their homes.
Not long after arriving on scene they received information that the suspect was "headed to the mountains."
Close was quickly tracked down in the small town of Pine Junction. Cellphone video captured by Beth Reed shows sheriff's deputies making the arrest.
"I saw the first officer pull through the parking lot, and he went over to the restaurant and blocked the car in. Then I saw another sheriff come through the parking lot, and he parked close to the first, got out of the truck with his AK and they both threw down on the guy and got him down on his knees," Reed said.
Close is believed to have shot a young woman and her boyfriend, who bystanders say were out walking a dog.
"We actually saw the person who was down about 100 yards away and saw the cop run up to the body," one woman who lives in the neighboring building said.
According to the young woman's father, who was surrounded by family and friends at the scene, his daughter Isabella did not survive.
He says she just celebrated her 21st birthday earlier this week. The young man she was with was rushed to the hospital and police say is going to survive.
A Denver police spokesperson says more information about why the shooting occurred could come as early as Thursday morning.