The only resolution that should matter following the bloodshed and death of 2021 is this: Hold your loved ones close because gun violence is senseless, unpredictable, and seemingly unstoppable.
A year marked by so much loss — a deadly virus that has relentlessly filled morgues, an uptick in homicides and murders, more opioid overdoses in a single year than ever before, a deadly rampage at a grocery store in Boulder, another in Olde Town Arvada and two high school shootings — ended last week with a cross-city shooting spree fueled by chauvinist extremism and perceived grievances, killing five people in Denver and Lakewood.
Danny “Dano” Scofield, 38, was planning to surprise his mother for Christmas but stayed home to protect others when he had COVID-like symptoms. The tattoo artist has three children.
Alicia Cardenas owns Sol Tribe Custom Tattoo and Body Piercing. Her 12-year-old daughter will never again get to hug her mother.
Alyssa Gunn Maldonado, 35, was killed and her husband, Jimmy Maldonado, is in the ICU. Their young son is waiting to find out if he’ll be an orphan. Letap all pray that Jimmy Maldonado recovers.
Sarah Steck worked at the Belmar Hyatt House hotel to help pay the bills while she studied fine art in communication design at Metropolitan State University. Steck’s dream was to one day land a job in a more creative field. She graduated in the spring with hope but died at the Hyatt House in the winter.
Shortly after Steck was killed, Lakewood Police agent Ashley Ferris confronted the shooter. Doing her job without hesitation, she first ordered the armed man to drop his weapon, then she shot and killed the man, but not before he was able to shoot her in the stomach. Her actions saved lives and as we pull for her recovery, we say thanks to all the officers, troopers and agents in this state who are the last line of defense when a crazed person decides to kill.
Michael Swinyard was a skilled golfer who made a living in the construction industry. He was gunned down in his own apartment near Cheesman Park. His fiancé may have been sick in the hospital at the time and a close friend tried to get word to her that Swinyard was dead.
Optimism about the state of our society would be hard at this point, even if these deaths were a rare isolated incident, but combined with the other heinous killings in 2021, we struggle to see a future where Americans don’t live in constant fear of going to school, work or running errands and never getting to see their loved ones again. Instead of rehashing all that America must do to stem this tide, we’ll spend this time memorializing Colorado’s great losses in 2021 with the help of Denver Post journalists and others across the state who took time to get to know each victim through their surviving loved ones.
Denny Stong went to work at the Boulder King Soopers on March 23 and simply never came home. At 20 years old, the Fairview High School 2019 graduate, he was the youngest victim that day.
Neven Stanisic, 23, was leaving the grocery store after having completed a small repair job. He was shot and killed in his car. Family and friends described the graduate of Alameda International Jr./Sr. High as a shy boy who was a very hard worker.
Teri Leiker, 51, had worked at King Soopers since May 23, 1989. She had only missed work a few times because of illness and still called her mom every day to let her know she was safely home from work. Leiker did not make that call on March 23.
Rikki Olds was also killed at work that day. She was a manager at the age of 25 and had built close friendships with her colleagues as they labored through the pandemic to fill shifts of others who were out sick with COVID-19 or who were unable to work because of the risk of exposure. Her loyal coworkers stayed with her family as they waited hours to learn whether Olds would ever come home – she wouldn’t.
Tralona “Lonna” Bartkowiak was an Umba, or “sister” in Balinese, to many in Boulder, not just her three siblings. She owned Umba Love and those who knew her through the shop described the light she brought to life. Bartkowiak was just trying to buy groceries that day.
Kevin Mahoney, 61, had just become a grandfather and had another grandchild on the way when he was shot and killed in the Boulder supermarket. He had walked his daughter down the aisle at her summer wedding that the pandemic forced to be held in Mahoney’s backyard, but he did not get to hold his daughter’s first baby.
Jody Waters, 65, had two daughters and a grandson that were the center of her world when she wasn’t running her own small fashion stores in Boulder or helping run the stores of others. Waters was shopping for groceries when she was killed.
Suzanne Fountain, 59, worked with older members of the Boulder community to help enroll them for Medicare and supplemental insurance, but her passion was acting and she performed in Wit at the Nomad Theater and volunteered for and supported eTown Hall, a musical and theatrical nonprofit in town. She is survived by her son.
Lynn Murray, 62, was a mother of two and a photo editor working for Condé Nast and other publications on the East Coast using her artistic abilities. Her daughter prayed Murray would be among the survivors during the Boulder shooting. Murray did not make it out of the grocery store that day.
Eric Talley, 51, a Boulder Police officer, rushed into the King Soopers to try to save lives after reports of shots fired inside the store. Talley sacrificed himself in an effort to save others. He left behind seven children and a wife.
In May, six members of the same family were gunned down at a birthday party in Colorado Springs. Killed in the heinous act of domestic violence were Melvin Perez, 30, his wife Mayra Ibarra De Perez, 33; Melvin’s brother, Jose Gutierrez, 21; and the men’s mother, Joana Cruz, 52. Also killed were Mayra’s siblings, Ibarra-Perez and Jose Ibarra, 26. Three children were left orphaned and witnessed the shooting and then hid in another room.
In June, a man radicalized by anti-police sentiment and fueled by online videos, ambushed Arvada police officer Gordon Beesley in Olde Town. Beesely’s two teenage sons never got to say goodbye to their dad who died instantly.
More officers might have died that day in June had not Johnny Hurley been shopping nearby, wearing his permitted concealed weapon. Hurley confronted and killed the gunman. Unfortunately, a police officer mistook Hurley for the shooter and killed the hero moments later.
A few days later, police say multiple gunmen opened fire at a Juneteenth celebration in Aurora, and 25-year-old Devante Love Livaudais from Arapahoe County was killed. Four other people were injured.
And gun violence found our children this year with two school shootings in Aurora. Because the victims of the shootings were all minors and miraculously all survived — saved by tourniquets, inches and seconds — The Denver Post has not reported on their names or shared their stories.
But, we know the victims of the first shooting near Aurora Central High School were three boys and two girls between the ages of 14 and 17. A sixth victim was 18 and was able to drive himself to the hospital. The road to recovery after a bullet wound is long and can be life-altering.
A few days later, three students were shot and seriously injured at nearby Hinkley High School. All three of the victims were teens who also have not been publicly identified.
Hold your loved ones close and pray that 2022 sees less blood flowing in the streets, stores and schools of Colorado.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
