Over the weekend, a series of violent incidents unfolded in the Denver area, leaving a trail of fatalities and injuries in their wake.
In Commerce City, a suburb of Denver, four men were fatally shot, and a woman was hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Additionally, a person of interest in one of the cases was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Meanwhile, in Aurora, another city in the Denver metropolitan area, a person was fatally shot, and three others were injured in two separate altercations.
In Denver itself, a person was killed, and six others were injured in a string of weekend shootings and stabbings.
Commerce City Police Department spokesperson described the weekend as 'incredibly violent' for the community, which typically sees around 5 or 6 homicides a year. The sudden spike in violent incidents, with four homicides and a person in critical condition within 39 hours, has left authorities puzzled, especially considering that the crimes appear to be unrelated.
The motives behind the shootings have not been disclosed by the authorities.
The incidents in Commerce City included a shooting at a 7-Eleven parking lot, where a man died, and a woman was critically injured. Another fatal shooting occurred in a public park, leading to an arrest. A gunfight later ensued, resulting in a stolen vehicle crash, with one male passenger found dead from a gunshot wound.
In Aurora, a fatal shooting took place in a nightclub parking lot, with one victim deceased and another sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. Simultaneously, a shooting at a housing complex left a man with life-threatening injuries and another man stabbed but expected to survive.
Authorities have emphasized that there is no apparent connection between the various incidents in Commerce City and Aurora. Investigations into the motives and circumstances surrounding the violent weekend are ongoing.