AURORA — Dozens of yellow bullet markers on the ground and on a brick wall behind Street Soldierz Motorcycle Club marked the path of a running shooting spree Saturday that left one woman dead and three people wounded.
The murder victim, whose name was being withheld by authorities, was rushed just after 3 a.m. Saturday from the club in the 9500 block of East Colfax Avenue to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The other shooting victims, a woman and two men, were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening wounds, said Aurora police Detective Shannon Youngquist-Lucy.
Although up to 200 people were leaving the private motorcycle club at the time of the shooting, no suspect has been identified and no one has been arrested, Lucy said.
The motive and the number of shooters remains unclear, she said.
“I was in bed when I heard this boom, boom, boom. It was in rapid succession,” said Kathleen Tranbarger, 57, who lives across the street from an alley behind the Street Soldierz club. “Then a minute later I heard about a half a dozen more shots, easy.”
In all, police placed about 30 yellow markers indicating where bullet casings were found or where there were chips in a wall where bullets had struck.
They snaked from the alley behind the club, across Clinton Street and in front of homes in the 1400 block of Clinton.
The street corner has a long, violent history unconnected to the Street Soldierz. Years earlier a woman’s body was taken out of a trash bin in the same alley where the shooting happened, Tranbarger said. On July 6, 40-year-old Byron L. Lane was shot to death across the street when he tried to rob a check-cashing and cigarette store.
A coat of blue paint applied three months ago obscured the name of a Louisiana-style clothing store that used to occupy the slot where Street Soldierz club is now located.
The club’s website says the group was established in the summer of 2005.
“The mission of the Street Soldierz is to encourage other riders to make a strong contribution to their communities to bring about charity and unity among fellow riders,” the website says.
But a profanity-laced rap song on the same link describes shootings and confrontations with police.
“I’m a lit fuse . . . I’m a thug . . . I need a reason to give this trigger a squeeze,” the rap song goes.
During the song, the sounds of gunshots and of women screaming can be heard.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
