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The deadly stabbing attacks on Denver's 16th Street Mall spanned less than a mile. See a timeline and map.

Denver city leaders respond after stabbings on 16th Street Mall
Denver city leaders respond after stabbings on 16th Street Mall 02:48

After two people were killed and two others wounded in a series of stabbings in downtown Denver over the weekend, a suspect has been arrested and now faces murder and attempted murder charges related to the attacks.

According to Denver police, three people were stabbed on the 16th Street Mall on Saturday and a fourth was stabbed Sunday. The first and fourth people attacked later died, police say. Sunday night, officers arrested 24-year-old Elijah D. Caudill. He had his first court appearance on Monday and is being held without bond.

Caudill hasn't been formally charged yet, but Denver police investigators are recommending two charges of first-degree murder and two charges of attempted first-degree murder.

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Elijah Caudill Denver Police Department

Investigators say Caudill's first three attacks spanned about 40 minutes and about nine blocks between around 5:12 p.m. and 5:54 p.m. The first person who was stabbed was identified by court documents as 71-year-old Celinda Levno, a flight attendant in Denver on a layover.

Then several hours after police released a photo of the suspect and Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas held a news conference providing updates on the attacks, Caudill stabbed another person, killing him, the department said. That fourth person has not yet been identified.

A timeline of the attacks provided by police shows Caudill stabbing and killing Levno, then moving northwest along 16th Street on Saturday night.

Caudill's whereabouts before the first attack and in between the third and fourth are still unclear, but that final stabbing occurred near 16th and Wynkoop Streets. The attacks occurred in a stretch of the 16th Street Mall about a mile long. The first three attacks happened within a half-mile stretch.

In a Monday evening news conference, Thomas said it wasn't until after the third stabbing that officers realized they were likely dealing with the same suspect because the second victim took themselves to the hospital and spoke to police after the third attack had already occurred.

In that same news conference Monday, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston says that while crime is down in the city and acts of violence like this series of stabbings are rare, the city will be increasing its police presence in the downtown area.

Denver mayor, police chief hold news conference about 16th Street Mall stabbings 19:39

"I think we have not seen random acts of violence in our city center for as long as we can remember and so that means we are both heartbroken for the folks that are suffering and we are also deeply committed to the public knowing that this individual has been detained, is in custody, we will pursue all possible charges against him, and that these random acts of violence are not typical and are not something we should expect ongoing here in downtown," he said.

Violent crime, including murder, is down in Denver, crime data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation shows; There were 95 murders in the city in 2020, 100 in 2021, 90 in 2022, 87 in 2023, and 69 in 2024.

As Thomas was speaking at the news conference, a man in the area shouted expletives expressing disapproval of Johnston's handling of crime in the city.

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