Two men were killed and a third was in critical condition after two shootings that happened within minutes and only a few miles apart.
Police do not know whether the shootings are linked. The names of the victims have not been released. Autopsies were scheduled today.
In the first incident 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 the man was killed. “It was so loud.”
Dayna Keller, also a neighbor, said police towed a green Toyota pickup truck 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. The incident frightened the student, who has two small children.
No arrests have been made, and police do not have a suspect, Jackson said.
Ryan Vasquez, 23, lives near the alley between Elm and Forest streets on East Seventh Avenue, 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, because someone had found two bodies on the gravel as they tried to drive down the alley.
Jackson said one man was pronounced dead at the scene. A second was taken to Denver Health Medical Center in critical condition.
“It’s a real quiet neighborhood,” Martinez said. “It freaked me out. This is so shocking and crazy.”
No arrests have been made in the case. Jackson said both shootings are currently being investigated as separate crimes.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
