Two Shot Downtown After Nuggets Celebration, Suspect Still at Large

“Everyone was running and crouching,” says one witness who spoke to Westword at the scene and was just feet away from the shooter, along with two friends. “It took my brain a minute to catch up with what was happening. Then I smelled the gunpowder and was like, ‘Oh, God, this is actually a shooting.'”

The Denver Police Department tweeted out an alert about the incident at 1:14 p.m., saying it had happened in the area of 17th and Curtis streets. At least two victims were located and transported to Denver Health, where they are in critical condition.

It was terrifying … that was awful pic.twitter.com/za9aPe7cZb

— Maria Redondo (@miatortilla) June 15, 2023

The shooter was still at large as of 4 p.m., according to DPD officials.

Witnesses say the male suspect was speaking with a group of individuals before opening fire on them. At a press conference this afternoon, DPD Chief Ron Thomas described the shooting as a “targeted incident.” It is believed that the involved parties all knew each other.

“There were these three kids on scooters, talking to a guy who was standing,” says another witness. “We were walking right through them, talking. I did not see what they said, or if anything happened, but then the one guy pulled out a gun and shot at those three that were standing there. Some [people nearby] got hit with the casings. And then the three of us ran and some of them ran into [buildings]. Cops said two of the three victims they found, but they haven’t found the shooter.”

Witnesses say they saw the male suspect running off after the incident. He and the victims were in an area that was packed with people at the time of the shooting.

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The area of 17th and Curtis is just a fifteen minute walk from Civic Center Park.

Benjamin Neufeld

“We were just making the statement how we thought Denver was safe,” says another witness. “It’s sad that we came down for a great celebration, and for our good time, this is our memory as we’re leaving downtown from the celebration.”

At the Thursday afternoon press conference, Denver officials were quick to downplay the notion that downtown wasn’t a safe place to celebrate. “The quick answer is that yes, downtown Denver is still a safe place for people to come. Unfortunately we have, again, far too many guns in our society, far too many individuals that act irresponsibly with guns,” Chief Thomas said. “Individuals now in our community are emboldened to act in an irresponsible way regardless of who’s watching. 

Mayor Michael Hancock, who was also at the press conference, insisted that the recent shootings were not related to the state of downtown Denver.   

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Thursday’s shooting went down right after the Denver Nuggets championship celebration ended at Civic Center Park.

Chris Perez

“This is not about downtown,” Hancock said. “If you look at what’s occurred here in the last 72 hours in the metro region — where we’ve had shootings, road rage in Aurora, road rage on I-25, where you see what happened with the two gatherings. The large gathering after the Nuggets won the championship on Monday and then again today. This really is about young people getting their hands on guns.”

The mayor referred to the incident after the Nuggets rally as being “a very targeted situation as part of a drug trade.” DPD officials have suggested that the shooting after the Nuggets win early on June 13 was also drug-related.

“If you want to know why people are emboldened, there is a very prolific fentanyl and drug trade happening all over this country, and we have not been immune to it,” Hancock continued. “So join with us in being honest about what’s happening here — that we have to look and understand that our young people are getting their hands on guns. They don’t know how to solve crises or challenges by having a conversation. They’re shooting at one another, and it makes absolutely no sense. And unfortunately, as Chief Ron pointed out, this may have been a very targeted situation as part of a drug trade — not only on Monday, but today. And it’s making everyone else unsafe.”

DPD officers made at least two arrests during the parade that were unrelated to the shooting; one involved a person with a weapon and another causing a disturbance.