DENVER — Community members are feeling uneasy after a shooting near Denver's 16th Street Mall left three people injured Tuesday evening.
Officers were dispatched to the area of 16th and Wynkoop streets just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for reports of a shooting. Three men were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Denver Police Department.
A juvenile was arrested for investigation of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the case.
According to investigators, a group of people — including the juvenile — approached one of the victims "for an unknown reason." After a struggle, the juvenile allegedly fired shots, striking the first man and two men who were standing behind him. Denver PD said the two men were unrelated to the initial struggle.
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The broad daylight shooting has rocked visitors to the popular area.
"What concerns me the most is that it's teenagers. They have guns, things are escalating really quickly. How are they getting access to that?" said Claire Campbell, who was visiting downtown Denver with her young son.
Campbell said her husband uses Union Station to commute home from work every day.
"It was unnerving to think he missed this by 40 minutes," said Campbell. "He could’ve been in the crossfire."
Denver7 took the concerns directly to Mayor Mike Johnston, who has promised to prioritize safety in the city since the beginning of his administration.
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"Any instance of crime is one instance too many. And so obviously, we took this issue very seriously. Our police department responded courageously and quickly. We had a suspect in custody within four hours of the shooting, and so we have a really deep focus on reducing violent gun crime in the city," said Johnston.
According to Johnston, non-fatal shootings in the city have gone down by 30%.
"So we know these shootings are going down dramatically. Our homicides are down this year," he said. "This is a serious incident. We'll take serious action on it, but people should not confuse this with a broader risk. Actually, we're seeing a great revival in downtown right now."
According to the Denver Police Department's Crime Dashboard, between Jan. 1 and Aug. 12, the Union Station neighborhood saw 1,022 crime reports, including 114 reports of violent crime. Under the Crime Dashboard, violent crimes include sexual assault, robbery, murder and aggravated assault.
The neighborhood saw 1,104 crime reports — including 122 reports of violent crime — in 2023 and 2,082 crime reports — including 171 reports of violent crime — in 2022.
According to Denver PD's Crime Map, two crime reports have been filed near the intersection of 16th and Wynkoop streets this month. An aggravated assault was reported at 1590 Wynkoop St. on Aug. 2. A second crime was reported at 1595 Wynkoop St. on Aug. 10, but the map only lists the offense as "all other crimes." No further details were provided.
The mayor said the city has dramatically changed the framework of what downtown used to be, clearing homeless encampments while increasing the number of officers in the area.
"We know crime can happen anywhere in the city, but we're working hard to make sure it doesn't happen anywhere in the city," Johnston said. "I had dinner with my wife at the 16th Street Mall last week. We had a great evening, a wonderful walk through town. We spend a lot of time there, and it is a very safe, wonderful place to visit."
As much as people would like to believe that downtown is safe, those like Campbell say they can't help but be guarded in the area.
"It's a beautiful area, there’s a lot of shops and things for families to enjoy. But if you don’t feel it's safe, you don’t wanna bring your kids or your families," said Campbell.
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