Among the locations for these offenses was the intersection of the 16th Street Mall and Champa Street, flagged as a crime hot spot by a Denver Police lieutenant during a meeting of the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association last week.
Meanwhile, the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder saw the the resurrection of the Boulder Mall Crawl for the first time in thirty years. Although no injuries were reported, the Boulder Police Department was on full alert.
Here's what went down in each of these four municipalities:
DENVER
At 3:47 a.m. on Saturday, October 30, the Denver Police Department sent out an alert about the shooting of an adult male on the 4900 block of North Dallas Street. He suffered injuries that weren't considered life-threatening. At 3:10 a.m., Sunday, October 31, two adult males were transported to a local hospital after a shooting on the 1100 block of South Winona Court; their injuries were also reported as non-life-threatening.
Minutes earlier, at 2:57 a.m. on October 31, the DPD tweeted about a shooting on the 1300 block of West Colfax Avenue that resulted in a critical injury for one man and a non-life-threatening wound to another. An adult male suspect was arrested that afternoon in connection with the incident.
At 1:28 p.m. on October 31, Denver officers responded to the 1100 block of North Syracuse on what was initially described as the accidental shooting of a juvenile male. He was raced to a nearby hospital in critical condition, and at 7:50 p.m., an update tweet revealed that he had died and a male teenager was in custody for investigation of manslaughter.
Next came a pair of stabbings reported within 120 seconds of each other. At 8:40 p.m., the DPD announced the stabbing of an adult at the intersection of 16th and Champa streets; the victim is expected to survive. And at 8:42 a.m., there was a report of another stabbing about ten blocks away, at 16th and Chestnut streets; again, the result was a non-life-threatening injury. Investigators said they don't think the stabbings were related.
Finally, at 2:37 a.m. on November 1, Denver Police reported that a shooting on the 19600 block of East 42nd Avenue had led to the death of one person. No suspect information has been made available.
AURORA
At 3:13 a.m. on October 31, the Aurora Police Department confirmed that an adult female had been transported to a local hospital with serious injuries after being shot at an address on the 1200 block of South Dayton Court. Another adult female suspect is being sought in connection with the incident. Just over an hour later, at 4:26 a.m., the APD cited shots fired at a large party near 1600 South Quintero Way. An adult female self-transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.
The news soon got grimmer. The APD responded to 1592 North Boston Street at around 6:15 a.m. October 31 to discover a man in his fifties suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Detectives believe a trigger was pulled following an argument between the victim and an unknown suspect; no arrests have been reported.
LAKEWOOD
At around 12:30 a.m. on October 31, Lakewood Police Department officers rushed to the 6200 block of West Alameda Avenue, where they found two people who'd been shot. One was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other perished after being taken to a hospital. Investigators subsequently learned that two other individuals had been hurt in the shooting and had gotten to a medical facility on their own. A press release describes their conditions as unknown.
BOULDER
The Boulder Police Department tweeted about shots fired on the 800 block of 17th Street just before midnight on Friday, October 29; detectives are working with what they said was a good description of a suspect. But the real action was happening over on the Pearl Street Mall. That evening and into the next morning, police responded to what a press release called "a gathering that grew to an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 partygoers on the Pearl Street Mall, prompting concerns about dangerous crowd conditions and reports of property damage to local businesses."
Throngs of this size were common on Halloween weekends during the 1980s. But after the event got out of control in 1991, authorities in Boulder shut it down — and an attempt to revive it in 2009 was snuffed with extreme prejudice.
A crowd of around 200 people started gathering on the 1100 block of Pearl Street at about 9:30 p.m. on October 29. By 11 p.m., according to the BPD, "the crowd had more than quadrupled, with some participants hanging from light poles and trees, accessing rooftops and causing property damage to windows, tables, chairs and outdoor heating posts."
Here's a tweet offering a more benign view of the scene:
Beyond the threat of vandalism, officials worried about "public health concerns, as unmasked individuals were in very close proximity to one another at a time when hospital resources are severely constrained due to COVID-19."#BoulderMallCrawl #PearlStreetCrawl #Boulder #BoulderCO pic.twitter.com/hb9M2ad2hd
— HotJazzInUrFace (@HotJazzInUrFace) October 30, 2021
The cops tried to disperse the crowd, and the BPD noted that "most individuals, many of whom appeared to be under the influence, responded to verbal commands." Meanwhile, drones flying overhead recorded much of the action. The footage will be reviewed in the hope of making "targeted arrests."
In a statement, Boulder Deputy Police Chief Stephen Redfearn maintained: "We recognize the negative impact a situation like this has on our local business community, which is already feeling significant pressure due to the pandemic. We will be using our investigative resources to demonstrate that there are consequences to destruction of property and other unlawful behaviors."
Still, there were at least a couple of positives that flowed from the event: No one was shot or stabbed.
Anyone with information about these crimes can contact Denver Metro Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).
