Apartment groundskeeper Bob Watson wasn’t particularly ruffled by the fatal shooting Tuesday night next door to his tiny studio apartment.
It wasn’t the first time someone has died violently at 1746 Emerson St.
“Yeah, a crack dealer was stabbed here awhile ago,” Watson said matter-of-factly Wednesday. “He was a bully-type guy.”
Watson acknowledged that occasionally bad things happen at the address where an early 20th-century two-story brick home with a basement is crammed with 30 studio apartments.
The residents include crack dealers and prostitutes who make their living two blocks away on East Colfax Avenue, said a resident.
Mixed among them are disabled elderly veterans who can afford the $350-a-month rent, Watson said.
“The cops are around here fairly regularly,” said Rex Sinclair, a resident.
Tuesday at 9 p.m., Watson was in his apartment when the latest deadly confrontation occurred.
An apartment resident identifying himself only as John said he saw a man in the hallway he recognized as his parole officer.
The parole officer — with one foot inside Room 206 and one foot in the hallway — shouted orders, John said.
“He told him, ‘Get your hands up!’ four times. He yelled at him to get down on the floor,” John said. “I guess he wouldn’t obey the order.”
The parole officer fired at the suspect, who pulled out a gun, said Sonny Jackson, Denver police spokesman.
Authorities declined to identify the suspect or the parole officer.
“It was a clear-cut case of self-defense,” John said of the shooting. “I don’t even like the parole officer.”
The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of the shooting.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
