Search for suspects continues after Colfax Avenue shooting; community seeks support
Neighbors near Tuesday's shooting on East Colfax Avenue in Denver are on edge. While police continue to search for suspects, the community is searching for safety and support.
Mauri Harrison moved to the area in March. News of the shooting has her feeling rattled. She had just left home minutes before the tragedy.
"A lot of my neighbors around here are looking out for each other," Harrison told CBS News Colorado. "We're on watch all the time. I think it's getting better, but then, you go one block this way, and it's not too bad. You go one block the other way, and it's terrifying."
Harrison's neighbors look out for each other, but many wonder who looks out for the neighborhood.
Maisha Fields expected a mass response following the mass shooting in which one person was hurt and five others were hurt. When she got to the corner of Verbena Street and Colfax Avenue the next day, all she saw were a few flowers where a man lost his life.
"I would like to see more presence of the police, more presence of social workers, more presence of community navigators, and most importantly, those who are trained to deal with the trauma of what it means to be poor, disenfranchised, and addicted to substances," Fields said.
Fields co-founded the DAWN Clinic in Aurora and serves as the director of the Fields Foundation, a nonprofit established after the death of her brother, Javad Marshall-Fields, and his fiancée, Vivian Wolfe. They were gunned down in 2005, not far from the scene of Tuesday's shooting.
"I was hoping that I would see victim advocates out here helping people deal with the trauma of witnessing a shooting," Fields said. "It's almost as if it never happened. This is not a healthy way to deal with violence or to eliminate violence in our community."
Fields says she met with Aurora Police Department earlier this week to discuss homicide numbers in the city. The East Colfax area where Denver's and Aurora's city limit meet is a hotspot. Fields learned the city is on track to surpass the 1993 "Summer of Violence" numbers.
Denver Police Department says it hired a victim's assistant specialist to focus on working with residents in that area who have been impacted by violence, in addition to improving area surveillance. DPD also says the department participates in monthly walks with neighbors that focus on community issues and building relationships.
In a statement to CBS News Colorado, DPD said, "We can say that any crime is unacceptable, and we will continue to work in partnership with residents and business/property managers to reduce crime."
A survivor of gun violence herself, Fields says East Colfax needs more support than it's getting.
"Colfax is the devil's corridor, specifically up and down this corridor. We know that people are trafficking drugs. They're trafficking women. They're trafficking guns," Fields said. "This area of Colfax really is survival of the fittest. And the fittest oftentimes means 'Do you have protection?' and 'How many guns do you own?' And 'Are you willing to use them to protect yourself and your family?'"
DPD's victim advocate was at the hospital Wednesday, but Fields says the community needs support throughout. She was minutes away from being near that fatal intersection with her nursing students. Her next move is to ask for a bulletproof vest.
"The second thing I'm going to do is ask that people show up. Show up. Don't give up on people because they may be struggling with mental illness or substance abuse or they're unhoused. Don't give up on those who don't have the resources to do it for themselves," Fields said. "Let's find a pathway. Let's be strategic. Let's help people get the resources they need in real time, and especially those who witnessed the shooting."