The Denver Police Department released body camera footage from an Aug. 3 shooting that left one suspect injured amidst what appeared to be night of violence and gunshots after Lower Downtown (LoDo) bars closed. 

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas and Major Crimes Division Commander Matt Clark conducted a press conference at the Denver Police Headquarters Friday to discuss the shooting.

The incident occurred in a parking lot near 19th Street and Market Street around 2 a.m. that Saturday when officers were conducting traffic control as part of the department’s new LoDo and Ballpark District security plan. 

Officers heard a gunshot in the nearby parking lot and approached it. A witness then told the officers that there was a man with a gun near a white Audi in the parking lot. 

Officers are seen approaching the vehicle in the body cam footage. As the officers moved toward the suspect — a 24-year-old male that the department declined to identify due to lack of formal charges — held up both hands, with what appears to be a handgun in his right hand. 

The man was holding the firearm by the end, pointing the muzzle at the ground, Clark noted. 

The officers yelled for the man to drop the gun. The man then began moving the firearm to his left hand, pointing it toward the officers. One officer fired a single shot at the suspect, hitting him in the right arm and dropping him down next to the car.

As the officer cuffed the man, multiple other shots could be heard in the distance. Three other officers ran off toward the other shots. 

The man apologized as officers flipped him over, stating that he was attempting to put the gun down. 

“I’m not a criminal. I was just trying to save myself,” he said, continuing to apologize.

The suspect told police about a nearby fight and the initial gunshot heard, which could have led to him arming himself, Clark said.

A GLOCK 17 9mm semi-automatic handgun was retrieved at the scene. Police are still investigating whether the man had the gun legally.

The other shooting heard in the video was an exchange of gunfire in a separate interaction, Clark said. A vehicle involved in the second incident left the scene and eventually crashed near Lawrence Street and Broadway.

Two individuals were found in the vehicle, one with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. 

The second shooting is still under investigation and is not thought to be connected to the officer-involved shooting suspect.

The officer who fired the shot has been placed on a modified duty status while the incident is investigated by multiple agencies, including the Colorado Bureau of Investigations and the Colorado State Patrol, according to Clark.

“This really represents the challenge that we face in downtown Denver with people carelessly using guns in downtown Denver and I think the ongoing need for our continued mitigation efforts in the Central Business District,” Thomas said. 

The neighborhood has seen a plethora of shootings over the past few years.

For a few examples:

• 17-year-old Keanna Rosenburgh shot five people outside of Dierks Bentley Whiskey Row at 1946 Market St. on Sept. 16.
• Ten people were shot in the area of 20th and Market Street, including a suspect, just after midnight on June 13, 2023 after the Denver Nuggets secured the NBA Championship.
• On July 17, 2022, near 20th and Market Street, a Denver patrol officer shot and injured seven people, including six bystanders who were directly behind a suspect as the bars were letting out.

Thomas added that the department has seen a “significant reduction” in he violence in the area due to some of their mitigation efforts — like dispersing nightlife crowds through dedicated rideshare areas on weekend nights.