DENVER — Sol Tribe Tattoo & Piercing in Denver closed its doors for the final time Tuesday, roughly 2.5 years after its owner and jewelry manager were killed in a shooting spree.
On Dec. 27, 2021, a gunman killed five people and injured three others, including a police officer, in a shooting spree that spanned across Denver and ended in Lakewood. Sol Tribe owner Alicia Cardenas, 44, and jewelry manager Alyssa Gunn-Maldonado, 35, were the first two people killed in the string of shootings.
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Alfredo Cardenas said his daughter owned her first tattoo shop when she was 19 years old and then moved into the new space, where she had worked for 15 to 20 years. It has a "tremendous reputation," he said.
She was also a mural artist, he said, and there are multiple art murals around town with her name on them.
"She was a real leader in her community. A lot of people look to her for advice and information about tattooing and a lot about the hygiene of tattooing and she kind of pioneered that," Alfredo Cardenas said. "But she had friends all over the world. She literally has gone all over the world, well, over the oceans anyway, giving workshops on tattoo hygiene and that sort of stuff. She will be very sorely missed."
Alyssa is remembered for her impact on the tattoo and yoga community. A verified GoFundMe was created for the family to help with funeral costs, medical bills and support for the couple's son in December 2021. It is still open to donations as of Tuesday.
Alyssa's husband, a Sol Tribe artist, was injured in the shooting. He survived his injuries after spending time in a hospital ICU.
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The tattoo shop announced its sudden closure in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
"Sol Tribe is officially closed as of today. We want to thank you, our amazing clients and friends, for an incredible 15 years of piercing and tattooing you," the photo reads. "Y'all have supported us through figurative hell, during our hardest moments and we will never forget that. We are stunned by this news and we are heart broken."
In the caption, Sol Tribe explained the closure, saying, "We thought we had another month of sorting out details before the final closing of Sol Tribe, but that wasn't the case. We are completely devastated."
All of the Sol Tribe tattoo artists and piercers are either joining other shops or venturing out and starting shops of their own, according to the Instagram post.
