Police and business officials stressed Monday that the 16th Street Mall is safe, one day after a clerk at a 7-Eleven store on the mall was shot in the head.
Denver Police Commander Deborah Dilley, who oversees the patrol district that includes downtown, called the shooting an anomaly, as violent crime has steadily dropped in the downtown area for the past several years. The mall is one of metro Denver’s biggest tourist attractions.
“This is a scary event,” said Downtown Denver Partnership spokeswoman Sarah McClean. “But it’s important to remember this doesn’t happen every day.”
The first six months of this year saw a 24 percent drop in violent crime in the downtown area compared with the same period last year, Dilley said. In a three-year period starting in October 2003, violent crimes dropped 26 percent.
But McClean said crime will always be a concern with more people living and working downtown. About 110,000 people work downtown, and 62,000 people live within 1 1/2 miles, she said. As many as 50,000 people ride the 16th Street Mall shuttle on an average weekday, Regional Transportation District spokesman Scott Reed said.
“Downtown Denver is a very densely populated area, and with that comes some challenges,” McClean said. “But one of the responsibilities you have when you have an area like the 16th Street Mall is that you have to keep it clean and friendly and safe.”
Sunday’s shooting happened about 4 p.m. inside the 7-Eleven at 16th and Champa streets and as the mall buzzed with activity after a Colorado Rockies game. The clerk, 37-year-old Ali Bashir Abu Zama, a native of Sudan, was listed in critical condition Monday, but was showing signs of improvement and is expected to live, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
Following directions from witnesses, officers arrested 22-year-old Broderick Roddy nearby shortly after the shooting. Police said Roddy had been tossed from the store earlier. He is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.
“No, not Broderick,” Roddy’s aunt, Doris Waggoner of Fort Worth, Texas, said Monday after learning of her nephew’s arrest.
“He wasn’t a violent person. He doesn’t even get in fights or anything. He wasn’t a kid who gets angry.”
Roddy, who moved to Colorado from Texas about three years ago, has previous convictions for shoplifting and unlawfully carrying a firearm. Andrae Waggoner, Doris Waggoner’s son, described Roddy as an introvert who loved computer and video games.
“He wanted a new life,” Andrae Waggoner said, “to be on his own.”
The shooting occurred on a stretch of the mall that the Downtown Denver Partnership has targeted in its Revitalizing the Core project launched earlier this year, McClean said.
As part of that effort, Dilley said she assigned six foot-patrol officers to work the 600 to the 900 blocks of 16th Street and along California Street. The downtown area also is served by several motorcycle, bicycle and mounted patrol officers, in addition to two regular patrol cars.
“The downtown area has more police coverage than probably any area in the city,” Dilley said.
Workers on the mall Monday said they deal with their share of drunks and loonies but don’t often see serious violence.
Dan Nohner, the manager of a Subway restaurant near the 7-Eleven, said that a couple of months ago a man who appeared to be high on drugs and who had a gun stuffed in his waistband came into the restaurant. A couple years ago, Nohner said an employee quit after a man in the restaurant pulled a gun during an argument with another patron. Despite this, Nohner said things are generally safe, and police are doing the best job they can.
Papa Diop, an employee at Keys Deluxe who was acquainted with the 7-Eleven clerk, said he hasn’t seen many serious problems but still tries to avoid trouble.
“The job is being done by police,” he said.
Staff writer Mike McPhee contributed to this report.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
