Two people have been shot after the Denver Nuggets NBA Championship parade, police
.
"The Denver Police Department is investigating a shooting in the area of 17th & Curtis. Two victims are located. Condition unknown at this time. Updates will be posted to this thread as they are made available. "
Police officers on duty in the Denver area rushed to inquire about a shooting that took place after the Nuggets NBA Championship parade and really winded down on Thursday afternoon. Officers reported that two victims have been located, with their condition unknown at this time. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas stated that camera footage was captured of the shooter, but they remain unidentified.
The department then tweeted about the shooting at 1:14 pm MDT, just as the parade began to wrap up. The Nuggets parade has moved throughout the downtown area of the city, with the shooting happening along the scheduled parade route.
The Denver Police Department also just
, "At 2:30 PM MDT Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas will provide an update on the officer injured during the Nuggets parade and the shooting that took place today in the area of 17th & Curtis. This event will be live-streamed here."
"This [took place] well after the parade and well after the festivities," said Police Chief Ron Thomas to the media. "I understand that people were leaving the downtown area when the incident occurred. We had a black male firing a weapon, striking two individuals. We believe this was a targeted incident. Those two males were located by responding officers and were transported by ambulance to Denver Health, where they are in serious condition but also receiving treatment."
Chief Officier Thomas also expressed his belief that the incident was completely unassociated from any other violence that occurred surrounding the parade, labeling the incident as "two individuals armed with weapons acting irresponsibly" in the Denver community.
A CBS news helicopter scanned the area from above and flew over the crime scene. The footage showed a large group of police officers on two separate scenes just one block away from each other. The first group scanned the area around 16th and Curtis St, while the other group invested around 17th and Curtis.
Both blocks have been sealed off by yellow police tape. Officers are also gathering evidence on what caused the shooting and the events leading up to it.
Earlier this week, 10 people were injured in a separate shooting near 20th and Market streets as the Denver Nuggets wrapped up their NBA title celeb relations. The Denver police on the scene expressed that the shooting was drug-related, with two people - including one of the victims - arrested for gun charges.
The police department believes that during the initial shooting, "about half" of the victims were innocent civilians, while the rest of the people injured on the scene had ties to the incident.
The Denver Nuggets extracted themselves from the list of teams to never win an NBA title after defeating the Miami Heat 4-1 last Monday, ending a 47-year drought in franchise history. The franchise, led by Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, is now considered one of the most complete teams in the NBA, with the Joker etching himself in the history of the league as one of the greatest centers ever to play the game.
The now reigning champions have a bright future, with the bulk of their key players having youth on their side while also being locked into long-term deals with the team. Jokic is just 28 years old, while star point guard Jamal Murray is 26, and Michael Porter Jr is the youngest of their core at 24 years old.
