Union Station Area Shooting Now Murder, Violent Crime Doubles

Denver is experiencing a wave of violent crime, with at least nineteen shootings or stabbings in the city over the first twenty days of July. The situation is particularly acute in lower downtown and along the 16th Street Mall, where eight people were shot in four separate incidents over an eight-day period.

The most recent shooting took place early on July 19 in the 1600 block of Blake Street — and the thus-far-unidentified victim subsequently died. The Denver Police Department has launched a homicide investigation into the incident.

Data on the DPD's Denver Crime Map reveals that fourteen violent crimes — defined by the department as murder, robbery and/or aggravated assault — took place in the Union Station neighborhood between July 1 and July 19, the most recent date for which information is available.

This total exceeds the number of violent crimes in the area the DPS identifies as the Union Station neighborhood for the same dates back to 2016, when the DPD's online data begins; the rate has doubled in five years. Here's the rundown.

July 1-19, 2021: 14 violent crimes
July 1-19, 2020: 11 violent crimes
July 1-19, 2019: 11 violent crimes
July 1-19, 2018: 9 violent crimes
July 1-19, 2017: 6 violent crimes
July 1-19, 2016: 6 violent crimes

We've reached out to the DPD, the Downtown Denver Partnership and Denver Union Station to find out if they are changing safety programs in the area. In the meantime, here are violent crimes in the Union Station neighborhood between July 1 and July 19, listed in reverse chronological order.

1. 7/19/2021 4 a.m. 1600 block Wewatta Street
Robbery; Robbery of a person in the open

2, 7/19/2021 3:32 a.m. 1600 block Blake Street
Murder; Homicide by other means

3. 7/18/2021 7:55 a.m. 1750 Wewatta Street
Aggravated Assault; Assault causing serious bodily injury

4. 7/18/2021 1:50 a.m. 1500 block Larimer Street
Aggravated Assault; Threatening to imminently injure with a weapon

5. 7/17/2021 12 p.m. 1514 17th Street
Aggravated Assault; Weapon fired into an occupied building

6. 7/16/2021 3:36 p.m. 18th Street/Larimer Street
Aggravated Assault; Assault causing serious bodily injury

7. 7/15/2021 4 a.m.1900 block Chestnut Place
Robbery; Robbery of a person in the open

8. 7/12/2021 10:50 p.m. 1909 Blake Street
Robbery; Robbery of a person in the open

9. 7/11/2021 7:08 p.m. 2200 block 19th Street
Aggravated Assault; Assault causing serious bodily injury

10. 7/9/2021 3:13 p.m. No address listed
Aggravated Assault; Assault causing serious bodily injury — domestic violence

11. 7/4/2021 8 p.m. 18th Street/Lawrence Street
Robbery; Robbery of a person in the open

12. 7/4/2021 2 a.m. 1800 block Wazee Street
Robbery; Robbery of a person in the open

13. 7/4/2021 1:25 a.m. No address listed
Robbery; Robbery of a person in the open

14. 7/1/2021 2:15 p.m. 17th Street/Wewatta Street
Robbery; Robbery of a person in the open