Denver police injure 5 bystanders in LoDo while shooting man who allegedly pointed gun at officers

Denver police injured five bystanders when they opened fire in the busy Lower Downtown nightlife district as bars closed early Sunday, shooting a man they allege pointed a gun at officers.

Those bystanders — three women and two men — were either shot by police or injured with shrapnel from the officers’ bullets, Denver police said in a news release Sunday afternoon. All five are expected to survive.

The man police say pointed a gun at officers, 21-year-old Jordan Waddy, is also expected to survive his injuries. Waddy did not fire the gun, according to the news release. Police arrested him on suspicion of felony menacing and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.

Waddy and one female victim remained hospitalized Sunday evening in stable condition, police spokesman Doug Schepman said. The other four people were released.

Officers were at 20th and Larimer streets around 1:30 a.m. Sunday as bars started to close for the night. Officers saw a disturbance that involved an armed man and confronted him, Denver police Division Chief Ron Thomas said in a recorded statement shared on social media at 4 a.m. Sunday.

If you witnessed this incident or know somebody impacted by it, please call reporter Elise Schmelzer at 303-954-1368 or email [email protected].

Sunday night, Denver police released their probable cause statement used in Waddy’s arrest, a document that offered additional detail about what the officers at the scene said happened. It does not identify the five officers who were there monitoring bar closings.

After witnessing an altercation involving Waddy and two other men outside Larimer Beer Hall, at 2012 Larimer St., one officer reported that Waddy grabbed at his waistband and said he “lifted up his hoody as though he was armed with a handgun,” according to the document.

Several officers approached Waddy, according to the probable cause statement, and he began walking away. An officer reported seeing Waddy reach into his waistband again “in a motion consistent with pulling out a firearm,” according to the document. One of the officers at that point said Waddy had a gun, according to the statement

An unnamed officer “said he was in fear for his life as Waddy was now armed with a firearm and pointed the firearm in their direction,” the document said.

But the probable cause statement doesn’t describe the officers firing their weapons. It reports that one officer “heard four to six gunshots and observed Waddy fall to the ground,” then notes that “after the shots were fired,” the officers began to render first aid to Waddy “and several other victims who were injured during the shooting” — the only reference to bystanders being caught in the line of police fire.

Police reported seeing Waddy “throw the firearm onto the ground,” and they found a 10 mm handgun at the scene with one round in the chamber and seven in the magazine, according to the probable cause statement.

UPDATE: Briefing by Division Chief Ron Thomas at 20th St and Larimer St. pic.twitter.com/Ej99rccBGu — Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) July 17, 2022

“Pretty sure we would’ve been shot”

Guillermo Cortes was picking up a friend early Sunday and was standing near Larimer Beer Hall along with dozens of other people after the bars closed when officers fired their guns.

Cortes said he saw two men get into a fight and at least two Denver police officers approached and followed one of the men. He said he saw the officers pull out their guns and shoot the man, who he watched fall to the ground.

He said he did not see the man holding a weapon or hear the police give any warnings.

Cortes said he heard at least five gunshots and that he dropped to the ground when he heard them. When he got up, he saw the man shot by police lying on the ground in front of the beer hall as well as a woman lying on the ground near the entrance to the adjacent parking lot.

People scattered after the gunfire, he said. Cortes said he didn’t see or hear gunfire from anyone but the police officers.

“I’m pretty sure we would’ve been shot had we been standing in the wrong spot,” Cortes said.

Kyla Soderman and her friends were walking out of Larimer Beer Hall when the shooting occurred. She said she saw two police officers draw their weapons and shoot a man, firing at least three rounds. She did not see anybody else with a gun or hear anybody besides the officers fire a weapon.

She and her friends fled after they saw the man fall to the ground.

Crime scene tape still remained at the intersection Sunday afternoon, as well as packaging for gauze and a blue medical glove.

Long gap in publicly released information

Denver police released no new information about the shooting between 4 a.m. and 4:49 p.m. Sunday. A department spokesman twice declined to answer questions about the incident during that time frame.

Investigators struggled to confirm an accurate number of victims because some of the victims transported themselves to various hospitals and mixed in with victims from other shootings, Schepman said.

“The Denver Police Department understands the community’s desire for additional information and the department is committed to both maintaining the integrity of this investigation and sharing additional details as soon information has been confirmed through the investigation,” the news release states.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, according to the department. The three officers who fired their weapons are on administrative leave, per department protocol.

The Sunday shooting is the third time in a week that Denver police officers shot someone. An officer on Friday shot and killed a man who authorities said was stabbing his partner. On Wednesday, officers shot and killed a man who they say fired shots at pursuing officers.