Is This Denver's Most Dangerous Block?

Right now, East Bruce Randolph Boulevard is closed between Franklin and Gilpin because of a shooting — and that's hardly a rare occurrence in the area. The 1600 east block of Bruce Randolph has been the site of gunplay aplenty over recent years, with far too many homicides and firearms-related injuries taking place either along this stretch or a short distance away.

The Denver Police Department tweeted about the latest incident at 5:33 a.m. today, June 12, noting that officers "responded to a report of shots fired in the 1600 block of East Bruce Randolph Blvd. One person transported w/GSW [gunshot wound], injuries non-life threatening. No suspect information at this time."

The tweet did not say how long the closure is expected to continue, but it's unlikely to be the last in this area.

In April 2015, we reported on the murder of 61-year-old Abdul Muhammad at a home at 1625 East Bruce Randolph, where reports of violence were commonplace. A source told us that five shootings had taken place near the house over the previous year.

May 2009 saw a shooting at the intersection of Bruce Randolph and York that killed Edgar Nunez. The following January, Lonell Franklin and DeShon Lee died on the 3300 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard after getting into a confrontation at Bruce Randolph and York — at a liquor store doing business there. Later that year, in October 2010, Paul Cortez was slain at the same intersection.

In May 2012, Bruce Randolph and York was the site of a quadruple shooting in which 21-year-old Justin O'Donnell and 30-year-old Deon Rudd lost their lives.

Other homicides in the vicinity include the fatal drive-by shooting of Daerius Churchill at Bruce Randolph and Steele in January 2015 (we included the crime in our March roundup of fifteen unsolved Denver murders), a March 2015 gunshot death at Bruce Randolph and Race Street, and the March 2016 killing of Tarell Burton at Bruce Randolph and Cherry Street.

The Reverend Leon Kelly, a well-known anti-gang activist, has tied much of the violence in this area to pressures related to gentrification. And while we don't yet know if that was a factor in the latest incident, one thing is clear: The legacy of violence on or near the 1600 block of East Bruce Randolph Boulevard is not yet a thing of the past.