A weekend marked by unusual and troubling violence across the Denver metro area culminated in a shooting outside a southeast Denver lounge that killed one person and injured eight others, according to police.
Denver police spent the morning investigating the crime scene at Ultra Lounge East, located off Hampden Avenue.
“Sadness. The objective was, when everybody left, was to make it home, and unfortunately somebody didn’t make it home, and a lot of people had to go get treatment. So, it’s ultimately just sadness,” said Malcom Riley, violence interrupter lead with Struggle of Love.
Police said two groups involved in the shooting appeared to be in an altercation at an after-party held at the lounge. The conflict initially began at an event in Aurora.
Investigators found evidence that two guns were used in the shooting. As of Monday morning, police had not located any of the weapons.
“I think one of the challenges that we face all over our city is that there are far too many people that have access to guns and just don’t have the appropriate conflict resolution skills to keep a disturbance or a disagreement from escalating into gun violence,” Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said.
The owner of Ultra Lounge East, Dionte Wilkins, released a statement Monday on Facebook expressing grief and calling for an end to the violence:
I’m hurt, I’m devastated, I’m disappointed.
I can’t even find the words to say. I’m not speaking as only a Black Business Owner , but also as a victim of a horrific tragedy, enjoying life and celebration with a community I truly love.
Me and the other survivors are more than fortunate to still have our lives today. We all could have lost our lives because a random act of violence. Innocent people were hurt, and a life was lost in the blink of an eye.
The senseless violence in our community has got to stop. Our lives DO MATTER and we can’t expect the WORLD to respect that if we can’t!
My heart is with #Elijah and his family! My heart is with all the victims and everybody who was injured and not injured! My heart is with my community.
We at Ultra Lounge East will do whatever we have to do to help push for change in this behavior in our community. WE ARE THE COMMUNITY!
Police are working to identify suspects and interview witnesses. Investigators said the shooting underscored the importance of violence interrupters who can help de-escalate conflict before it turns deadly.
Struggle of Love, a metro-area anti-gun violence organization, has spent years working on prevention efforts in situations similar to the one at Ultra Lounge.
“We would rather get in front of it, find if there’s any conflicts, and if so, what can we do to mitigate. Get to the root of it to make sure everybody that goes out does go home,” Riley said. “We understand we can’t stop everything, but we do stop more than actually happens. It was just unfortunate we couldn’t get ahead of this one because we weren’t familiar with the actual issue.”
Riley said the organization provides tools and mediation to help individuals and groups resolve conflict, but the community must also reach out for help.
“Our message is to make you [get] home safe every time, every time. And if you don’t know how to do it, call us, and we’ll get you home safe,” he said. “If you don’t know how to talk to someone, call us. We’ll teach you. If you have some issues that’s underlying, we have a mental health team that can help you. If your issue is hunger, and that makes you angry, we can feed you. No matter what, we have means to help.”
Riley said the group is familiar with some of the people hurt in the shooting and is keeping everyone affected in their prayers.