Hargrove was shot around 2:15 a.m. Saturday morning after clubs in the area had closed down; according to the Denver Police Department, a brawl broke out at 15th and Market streets. A second Buckley airman was injured; he's since been released from the hospital. Several other people were arrested. The DPD's investigation is continuing.
In the meantime, Wright has ordered his staff to avoid the area until further notice. Ironically, this part of LoDo has been much quieter this summer than in previous years.
Here's the complete post on the Buckley website.
7/14/2013 - BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- At approximately 2:15 a.m. July 13, one Airman was killed and one Airman was injured in an incident at 15th and Market Streets in Denver.The deceased is Airman 1st Class Shaquille Hargrove, 19, 2nd Space Warning Squadron satellite systems operator. He was fatally wounded during the incident and was pronounced dead 2:28 a.m. July 13.
The injured Airman was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He has been released from the medical facility.
"On behalf of myself and Team Buckley, I want to offer my sincerest condolences to the families and friends of those affected by this tragic incident," said Col. Dan Wright, 460th Space Wing commander. "Our Airmen are the greatest assets in the Air Force, and we lost a valuable member of Team Buckley this weekend."
The incident is currently under investigation by the Denver Police Department. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Buckley is also coordinating with the police department.
The 460th SW commander has temporarily placed the vicinity of 15th and Market Streets off limits to 460th Space Wing members to allow investigators to conduct a thorough investigation. The order is scheduled to remain in effect until the investigation determines the area to be safe for 460th SW members.
The chapel staff, military family life consultants and mental health professionals are available to all members of Team Buckley.
"Taking care of our Airmen and families is a top priority, and we're doing all we can to tend to the needs of Airman Hargrove's friends, family and fellow Airmen," Wright said.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
If anyone has any information about the incident, to include any photos or video footage, please contact Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).
Keep reading for two letters sent to businesses and residents of Lower Downtown.
On Saturday, Josh Davies, president of the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association, sent the following:
LoDo Neighbors-Early this morning, there was a fatal shooting at the corner of 15th and Market Street. First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim and all of those impacted by the incident. The loss of life is always tragic, and it hits home especially hard when it is in your neighborhood.
Also, I wanted to let you know what the LoDo Neighborhood Association has been doing to mitigate the opportunity for these situations to occur. You can never completely eliminate the possibility of bad people doing bad things, but we have been working to limit their opportunity. Specifically:
Through a partnership with business owners and the LoDo District, Inc., we have funded additional police officers and a scout car to specifically patrol hot spots in our neighborhood during Friday and Saturday nights. This increase of resources has been one of the primary reasons why the overall level of safety during those evenings has improved over the past two years.
Our Good Neighbor Committee works with new and existing restaurant and bar owners to get them to abide by a Good Neighbor Agreement. These agreements cover a wide variety of issues from noise levels to the safe serving of customers. Additionally, we have recently adopted ambassadors for each business to check in and voice neighborhood concerns with bar owners and managers to prevent issues from escalating.
We held a neighborhood forum with Commander Lopez and members of the 6th District of the Denver Police Department to educate neighbors on how to protect themselves and what they can do to help report incidents and be an extra set of eyes for the police....
I am proud of the work that we are doing, proud of the neighborhood we live in, and most importantly, proud of the LoDo residents who care so much about their neighborhood. I am honored to serve you.
Josh Davies, Lower Downtown Neighborhood President
And the LoDo District just sent this:
Dear LoDo District Members,As you may have already heard, we had a fatal shooting at approximately 2:00 am on Saturday morning in the 1400 block of Market Street. Our hearts go out to the family of the victim, and to all those who are affected by this tragedy. While we are still waiting for full details, we do know that the police believe this to be an isolated incident and they do have a suspect in custody. We will share more as we learn it.
While we can never fully eradicate violent behavior, the District has been working hard to try to help lessen these kinds of incidents.
Chiefly among our efforts, and through our Hospitality Committee and one truly dedicated volunteer, Paula Grey, we have built public private partnerships with the Business Improvement District, our neighbors at LoDoNA, many LoDo bars and businesses and the Denver Police Department. These partnerships have raised much needed funds to get a dedicated scout car patrolling the streets of LoDo on high volume holidays and on the weekends to assist the regular foot patrol and off duty cops employed by bars to do more effective crowd control.
We will be inviting both Paula and Commander Lopez to this month's Board meeting (open to the public, this Wednesday, 4pm at the Northern Trust community Board room, 1600 Market Square) to discuss this incident and how we can do even more to help. Please feel free to join us!
If you would like further information on the Neighborhood Safety Initiative, please don't hesitate to contact our office at 303-628-5428.... Holly Barrett Executive Director LoDo District, Inc
More from our Mile High Murder archive: "22 Denver homicides in first half of 2013: See where they happened."/em>
