According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, three people were shot following the Nas-Flying Lotus-Schoolboy Q concert at Red Rocks last night -- a trio who were found in a vehicle on 6th Avenue in the wake of the chaos. Meanwhile, thousands of people were temporarily detained while law enforcers searched for the gunman, who remains on the loose at this writing. Here's what we know thus far.
First official word of what went down came in this tweet from the JCSO:#Jeffco Sheriff's Office is investigating a triple shooting that occurred at Red Rocks following tonight's concert. #JCSO
— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) June 20, 2014The sheriff's office quickly specified that the shooting took place in a parking lot after the shooting, not in the amphitheater itself. However, a tweet added that the park was closed until further notice and "no one is in custody."
Another Twitter message from about five hours ago reads: "Large police presence at Red Rocks Park due to shooting. All 'concert goer' cars in the park being searched."
This is an enormous task, as you can imagine given a venue with a capacity in the range of 9,000. Our Bree Davies was among those delayed by this order. At 11:42 p.m., she sent the following note to Westword editors:
I'm at the Nas show at Red Rocks and the SWAT team Is all over the place. There Is a search helicopter and cops with M16s everywhere. A lot attendant said there were shots fired. We're sitting in our car because they aren't letting us leave.Davies subsequently sent this photo.... ...and this one: The search took a long, long time, and some were displeased by the process, as is clear from this meme tweeted overnight:
Shooting outside a concert? Spend 3 hours unconstitutionally searching every single vehicle! #CopLogic #RedRocks pic.twitter.com/CJLAm5GJLi
— Cop Logic (@Cop_Logic) June 20, 2014Not everyone was trapped, however. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office subsequently tweeted that a "White SUV at 6th & Kalamath contained three victims from the shooting at Red Rocks in #Jeffco. All have been transported."
The conditions of the shooting victims have not yet been released. In the meantime, an incredibly vague suspect description is out. Authorities are looking for "a black man, 5'10 to 6 foot tall, wearing black clothing and carrying a rifle," 7News reports.
Look for much more coverage of this incident on our Backbeat blog. In the meantime, here's a 7News piece from the scene this morning.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
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