This one took place near East 16th Avenue and Quebec Street. Two of three suspects taken into custody were injured in the incident — one in a tangle with a DPD police dog, the other because of what's described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The 1500 block of Quebec is expected to be closed throughout the morning commute for police activity.
First word of the matter came via this Denver police tweet at 2:08 a.m.: "ALERT: #Denver officers are in the area of 16th and Poplar trying to locate possibly 2 wanted auto theft suspects in the area. The suspects may be armed. Avoid the area or shelter in place."
Twitter silence then ensued until 3:38 a.m., when two notices of a vehicle pursuit, arrests and injuries were sent out. Then, around 4 a.m., division chief Ron Thomas delivered a press update seen below. Be warned that the audio quality is particularly bad.
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) April 10, 2019At about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, a carjacking incident occurred not far from the Aurora intersection of 16th and Nome Street, Thomas revealed.
Descriptions of the vehicle in question were subsequently shared with police officers throughout the metro area, and at about 12:50 a.m. on April 10, Denver police officers spotted the ride not far from Colfax and Syracuse.
A pursuit followed, and in the vicinity of 16th and Quebec, the three suspects abandoned the vehicle. "One of the occupants of the vehicle turned and fired shots at the officers," Thomas said, adding that "one officer returned fire."
At that point, the trio took off running. According to Thomas, one of the individuals was grabbed almost immediately, while two others fled into the adjacent neighborhood.
A perimeter was quickly set up to contain the two missing suspects. They were subsequently found hiding in a yard.
As noted, one of the suspects appeared to have sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while the other was hurt after being "engaged by one of our canine officers," Thomas noted. Both were transported to an area hospital. No details of their condition were released.
Thomas confirmed that there will be a heavy police presence in the area this morning as part of the investigation into what went down. However, he stressed, "The community should be safe at this point."
The shooting was the 22nd police-involved shooting in Colorado to date in 2019 and the fifth in Denver this year.
