Lakewood police arrested a 16-year-old today in connection with a drive-by fatal shooting earlier this week, one of three slayings in an eight-hour span, officials said.
The suspect’s name was not released because he is a juvenile, said Steve Davis, Lakewood police spokesman.
The teenager was arrested about 1:30 a.m. this morning. He is being held at Mount View Detention Center for investigation into the murder of Christopher A. Pacheco early Tuesday in the 5600 block of West Mexico Avenue.
Pacheco, 21, was shot by someone in a passing car while he was playing pool in his garage at 1:25 a.m., Davis said.
Pacheco was transported to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Davis said homicide detectives are investigating whether there were others in the vehicle during the shooting.
“It’s unclear how many people were in that car,” he said.
Police are continuing their investigation and have made no additional arrests.
It is unknown when the juvenile suspect will make his first court appearance, Davis said.
The Jefferson County district attorney’s office will decide whether there are sufficient aggravating factors to warrant charging the teenager as an adult, he said.
Investigators received numerous tips and interviewed several witnesses who identified the teen as a suspect, Davis said.
Police do not know what provoked the shooting, he said.
“We haven’t heard of any clear motive,” Davis said.
Police confirmed that the teenager has gang ties, he said.
“There’s no indication the victim had any ties to gangs,” he said.
Detectives intend to interview the suspect. He is a juvenile, so it is more difficult to question the teenager because his guardian must give permission, Davis said.
Davis said there is no evidence linking Pacheco’s killing to the other two fatal shootings that happened Monday night and Tuesday morning in Denver.
At 9:30 p.m. Monday, two men were shot – one fatally – after a fight outside a South Federal Boulevard liquor store. Roberto Perez-Juarez, 26, was killed, said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
Four hours after the Lakewood homicide, two other men were shot in the 4300 block of Fillmore Street in Denver. One of the men, Eusebio Barboza-Aguilar, was killed, Jackson said.
No arrests have been made in the Denver shootings, he said.
