Denver-area shooting spree leaves five dead, including suspect, and officer wounded
A shooting spree that began in Denver Monday evening and ended up in the nearby city of Lakewood left five people dead, including the suspect, and three wounded, including a police officer, CBS Denver reports.
Police said the gunman managed to elude officers twice.
It wasn't immediately clear what his motive might have been.
Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen told reporters shots were fired at four locations in his city.
According to Denver police, two women were killed and a man was wounded near the downtown area. Later the body of a man who'd been shot to death was found in a park.
Officers responded to what they thought was a shots fired call at a third location.
Then officers found the vehicle they believed was involved and chased it. Shots were exchanged but, authorities said, the suspect "disabled" a police vehicle and fled to Lakewood.
A police spokesperson there, John Romero, told reporters a fourth person was fatally shot in a business by the man believed to be the Denver gunman.
Officers found the suspect's vehicle in the Belmar shopping area, and when they tried to approach him, he shot at officers, who returned fire. The suspect got away on foot.
Police say the suspect then committed "felony menacing" at a store.
Then the suspect went into the Hyatt House Hotel, where he allegedly shot one person, who was rushed to a hospital. Police didn't have information about that victim.
Officers then confronted the suspect again outside the hotel and, they say, he shot at them, hitting one, who was in surgery in unknown condition.
The suspect died at that scene. Lakewood police say they don't know if he died by officers' gunfire or his own.
One woman told CBS Denver she was in an Xfinity store when shots could be heard.
"We were just in there, my husband and I. You could hear the popping outside. It was like one shot and then maybe five or six more and a couple more after that.
"Xfinity did an awesome job. They swooped us right inside. Got us in the back room and got the gates down. Fortunately, we didn't see too much."
She also told the station two employees were hit with shrapnel.