Two men were killed and a third was in critical condition after two shootings that happened within minutes and only a few miles apart Wednesday night.
The names of the victims had not been released, and police had not identified any suspects. The cases are being investigated by different detectives as separate crimes.
In the first shooting, at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, a man was shot to death in the parking lot of 1150 Syracuse St., said Sonny Jackson, Denver police spokesman.
“I heard a pop, pop,” said Priscilla Hopkins, 60, who lives next to the handicapped parking spot where a man was killed. “It was so loud.”
Dayna Keller, also a neighbor, said police towed a green Toyota pickup away. She saw a shovel lying in the parking lot next to where a blood spot had been washed away with detergent.
“I wonder if he was trying to protect himself with the shovel,” Keller said.
Ryan Vasquez, 23, lives near the alley near the 700 block of Elm Street where the second shootings happened.
At 8:09 p.m., 24 minutes after the first shooting, Vasquez was walking up the concrete steps from his basement apartment when he heard a loud “pop.” About 30 seconds later, he heard “pop, pop, pop.”
“I heard the gunshots. I jumped to the ground,” Vasquez said. “I saw two cars. One backed out and flew. His headlights flickered as he turned them off. The second car came out front first. They just burned out as fast as they could. Neither had their headlights on.”
He and his roommate, David Martinez, 22, decided it was someone firing off firecrackers and they didn’t call police.
More than three hours later, at 11:22 p.m., police were called, Jackson said. Someone had found two bodies on the gravel.
Jackson said one man was pronounced dead at the scene. A second was taken to Denver Health Medical Center in critical condition.
