Two men were shot and a police officer was struck by a fire truck in separate incidents in Denver Thursday as the Nuggets celebrated their NBA championship.
The Denver Police Department confirmed both incidents that took place in downtown Denver around the Nuggets’ championship parade.
The shooting took place in the aftermath of the parade a block away from 16th Street Mall, a mile-long pedestrian strip with shops, restaurants and entertainment. Police Chief Ron Thomas told reporters that a single shooter shot two men in what police believe was a targeted shooting unrelated to the celebration. The victims were taken to a hospital and said to be in serious condition. Police had not detained a suspect as of Thursday afternoon. Officials did not say what type of gun was used.
Mayor Michael Hancock addressed the shooting while speaking with reporters.
“This was an event that involved anywhere from 700 [thousand] to a million people today,” Hancock said at a news conference. “For the most part, it went really well. Toward the end … an incident that wounded two people — once again involving guns. And here we are again having to talk about someone endangering the lives of people who came to celebrate.”
Second Denver shooting near Nuggets celebrations
The shooting comes on the heels of another that took place early Tuesday morning in downtown Denver in the aftermath of the Nuggets’ Game 5 home win over the Miami Heat that secured the NBA championship. Ten people including an alleged shooter were injured in that incident that officials say involved “multiple firearms” and took place roughly a mile from Ball Arena, where the Nuggets play. The shooting took place around 12:30 a.m. local time as the streets were still packed with revelers celebrating Denver’s win.
Thomas said Tuesday that police believed the shooting was drug-related and “completely unassociated to the celebration.” Two suspects were arrested and five guns were recovered from the scene. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening.
Officer sustains ‘limb-threatening’ injury in fire truck collision
In an unrelated incident Thursday, a fire truck collided with Denver police Sgt. Justin Dodge near the end of the parade route that ended at the downtown Denver Civic Center, where a rally took place. The truck was transporting multiple Nuggets players including Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray along the route.
DPD announced Thursday afternoon that Dodge was in serious and stable condition with a serious lower leg injury.
“As a firetruck that was transporting several players was rounding the corner at 13th and Cherokee, we had an officer who was at the passenger-side front of that vehicle,” Thomas said. “There were people that had made their way into the street, and he was trying to protect those individuals from the firetruck. Had to step closer to the vehicle, and the fire truck began to roll up the back of his left leg, trapping him underneath the vehicle, causing a very significant lower-leg injury.”
Thomas said that Dodge was rushed to Denver Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. Denver Health’s Dr. Stephen Wolf told reporters that Dodge was stable but sustained a “severe limb-threatening injury.”
The collision remains under investigation.
