Four killed, police officer injured following shooting in Denver area

A gunman has killed four people and injured a police officer after opening fire in several locations around the Denver area, Colorado, US police said on Monday.

The suspect also died after exchanging gunfire with officers, Lakewood police said.

They said they were still investigating what led to the shootings.

“We need to dig in and find out what the motive was behind this,” Denver police chief Paul Pazen said at a news conference.

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The shootings started shortly after 5pm in central Denver, where two women were killed and a man was injured, the police chief said.

A short time later, a man was fatally shot several blocks away, he said. During that pursuit police officers exchanged gunfire with a suspect. The suspect then fled to the nearby city of Lakewood.

Just before 6pm, the Lakewood Police Department received a report of shots fired at a business, said John Romero, a spokesman for the department.

A gunshot victim was later found and pronounced dead at the scene, Mr Romero said. Police officers identified the car and the shooting suspect, but the suspect was not identified at the joint news conference.

Mr Romero said that when officers found the car, the gunman opened fire and officers shot back. The gunman then fled on foot to a Hyatt hotel, where he is believed to have shot a clerk. He also shot and wounded a Lakewood police officer after he left the hotel.

The wounded officer was undergoing surgery on Monday night and his condition was not immediately known, a spokesman for the Lakewood Police Department said. The hotel clerk’s condition was not known.

The suspect was later shot in Lakewood and pronounced dead at the scene, Mr Romero said. It was not immediately clear if police officers had shot him.

“This one individual was responsible for this very violent crime spree that took place this evening,” Pazen said. – AP