5 Dead in Denver area shooting spree

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A gunman killed five people and wounded several others, including a police officer, in a Denver metro area shooting spree that included a car chase and gunfights with law enforcement, authorities said.

The suspect, who police killed following the Monday night shootings, was identified as Lyndon James McLeod, 47, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said Tuesday. Investigators believe McLeod targeted some of his victims, but his motive remains unclear, the chief said.

Denver police investigated McLeod in 2020 and early 2021 but never filed charges, Pazen said.

"This individual was on the radar of law enforcement," he said without elaborating.

The gunman allegedly opened fire at multiple locations in and around Denver, including in the suburb of Lakewood, about 8 miles west of downtown Denver, Pazen said.

The rampage is among more than 675 shootings that left four or more people dead or injured in the United States this year, according to Gun Violence Archive.

The shootings began just after 5 p.m. Monday when the gunman killed two women and injured a man in the busy South Broadway neighborhood, Pazen said. The injured man was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition Tuesday but is expected to survive, Denver police Cmdr. Matt Clark said.

Denver police then received a call about a burglary where, Clark said, the suspect broke into a building and shot at people. They escaped uninjured.

A man was then shot and killed in his home several blocks away, near the Cheesman Park area east of downtown, Clark said.

Shots were also fired near the emergency department at Denver Health Medical Center, but no injuries were reported, Pazen said.

Denver police identified a vehicle -- a black Ford -- linked to the incident and gave chase, leading to a gunfight between the suspect and officers, the chief said.

"We believe the individual, after disabling the police car, fled into Lakewood," he said
Authorities received a report of shots fired at Lucky 13 Tattoo just before 6 p.m., Lakewood police spokesman John Romero said. Danny Scofield, 38, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The gunman made his way to the Hyatt House Hotel in a shopping center a few miles away, where he allegedly shot Sarah Steck, a 28-year-old hotel worker, Romero said. She died later, police said Tuesday.

A Lakewood officer confronted the suspect in the shopping area, and the two exchanged gunfire, police said. The officer was hit once but was able to compose herself and fatally shoot the suspect. She is expected to recover, Romero said.

A gunman who killed five people and injured two others in a series of shootings in Denver is believed to have targeted the victims based on previous personal and business dealings and was investigated by police twice in the last two years.

Denver police said that Lyndon James McLeod, 47, who was also killed in the deadly rampage on Monday night, knew most of the victims and was “on the radar of law enforcement”.

Matt Clark, the commander of Denver police’s major crimes division, said: “Based on what we know, it does appear that the offender was targeting specific people in this case. The victims were known to the offender.”

He is not believed to have known the last person he shot, a hotel clerk, but police said she may have been targeted owing to a dispute with the hotel.

All the more reason to keep guns out of the hands of lunatics.

Yes, of course.. but when there are so many guns that responsible people can't possibly hold them all, they're going to find their way into the hands of lunatics.

It's very VERY easy to see the correlation between easy access to guns and the rate of gun violence, but the American gun industry and their political puppets choose to shove their heads in the sand and pretend everything is A-okay and it can't possibly be the ridiculous abundance of guns in the USA that's resulting in them being used to shoot people...

This one is a little different in that it seems to have been more of a hit list situation than a random attack, and I'd be curious to know what the previous law enforcement interest in the guy was about.

Oh yeah, when mass shootings have hit lists it’s totally different than when they don’t. It’s the unplanned disorganized mass murders by gun that need to be stopped!