Metro-Denver Weekend Crime: Shootings, Standoff, Meth Lab Bust

Multiple shootings, one of them fatal, took place across metro Denver during the last weekend of summer 2022 — all-too-common occurrences during the city's latest summer of violence. But there were other notable incidents, including the bust of what's described as a meth lab and an extended standoff prompted by the reported victimization of a toddler.

At 5:28 p.m. on Friday, September 16, the Twitter account maintained by the Denver Police Department issued an alert regarding a shooting near the intersection of East 44th Avenue and Madison Street, in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood. A male victim was transported to an area hospital with unspecified injuries.

Two more bulletins were dispatched within fifteen minutes of each other that evening. At 10:27 p.m., the DPD noted that a shooting investigation was underway close to the point where East 20th Avenue crosses Clarkson Street, in the Five Points neighborhood. An injured adult male victim was hospitalized. Then, at 10:42 p.m., the DPD revealed the probe of a "possible meth lab" on the 5300 block of East Asbury Avenue, in the Virginia Village neighborhood, necessitating closure of that stretch of road. The next morning, the DPD confirmed that a suspect had been taken into custody.

Roads were also closed near the 5500 block of North Troy Street, in the Montbello neighborhood, according to an 8:56 a.m. September 18 tweet. Early that afternoon, the DPD explained why, revealing that an armed suspect was believed to have assaulted a family member and kidnapped that individual's three-year-old child. Following negotiations, the suspect fled the residence but was quickly nabbed; the child was found unharmed inside and was promptly reunited with loved ones.

The Aurora Police Department had to deal with two shootings over the weekend. A release about the first notes that at around 12:43 p.m. on September 17, APD law enforcement officials responded to the section of South Ironton Street between East Tennessee and East Kentucky avenues following 911 calls about a shooting. They found an adult male inside a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

At approximately 1:51 a.m. on September 18, a man suffered serious injuries in a shooting in the vicinity of Montview and Clinton. No suspect information was shared about either Aurora shooting.

The Northglenn Police Department is more forthcoming about an incident on September 17. At about 11 p.m., NPD members were called to the 200 block of Muriel Drive for a shooting described as "an altercation." A 22-year-old male was wounded; at last report, he was in stable condition. Meanwhile, Northglenn authorities are on the lookout for a suspect — a Hispanic male thought to have driven away in a new model four-door silver or gray Chrysler 300.

Anyone with information about these crimes can contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).