Pressed for answers on how five people were injured this week after officers allegedly “randomly” fired into a late-night crowd outside a bar, the Denver Police Department has said the injuries may have been caused by “debris” or “shrapnel” and not direct gunfire.
That was the response of Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen, who on Monday was questioned by reporters about why so little information has been released to the public about the bizarre incident.
The shooting took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, when police officers responding to a disturbance outside a Denver bar fired at a suspect, identified as Jordan Waddy, who they said was “reaching into his waistband” for what they thought was a firearm.
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In detailing the incident later that night, police acknowledged in a statement that five other people were also injured, but they offered no details on the bystanders’ injuries.
At the same time, however, witnesses claimed they had seen officers “randomly shoot into a crowd of people.”
“It was definitely a little traumatic to see that go down,” one man who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Denver 7 News. “I heard maybe six or seven shots. I look to my left and I saw a girl who was hit on the thigh and it hit an artery and she was gushing out blood.”
The man accused officers of failing to “assess the situation” before opening fire in a crowded area.
Police said they recovered a pistol at the scene, but that Waddy did not apparently fire it.
The police chief now says more information may be available by Wednesday, as he said investigators were still working to get to the bottom of what happened.
“This is not the time to get into the very detailed questions that folks may have because we have critical witnesses that have to be talked to and we need to ensure that there isn’t any bias that impacts the whole integrity of this investigation,” Pazen was quoted telling reporters.
He said forensic investigators were still trying to determine if the injured bystanders were struck directly by gunfire or not.
“That’s exactly what we are looking at. Is this shrapnel? Is this debris? Is it direct fire? Is it indirect fire? And we want to, you know, certainly take a look at all of those, and it takes a little bit of time,” he was quoted as saying by Denver 7 News.
Four of the five people injured were said to have been released from the hospital by Monday, while Wadden, who was injured, remains hospitalized.
Three officers are on administrative leave after the incident, the department said. The shooting is under investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado State Patrol, the Denver District Attorney’s Office, and the police department.
