Denver gunman who killed five in shooting rampage knew victims

A gunman who killed five people and injured two others in a series of shootings in Denver is believed to have targeted the victims based on previous personal and business dealings and was investigated by police twice in the last two years.

He is not believed to have known the last person he shot, a hotel clerk, but police said she may have been targeted owing to a dispute with the hotel.

He said it was too soon to identify a motive for the killings.

The shootings, which started at about 5.30pm, took place across several locations in and around the Colorado capital. McLeod exchanged gunfire with police, injuring an officer, and was killed after he was shot by an officer in a busy shopping district in Lakewood, a Denver suburb.

The first shooting was at a tattoo shop less than a mile from the address of his former business and four of the victims were shot at two tattoo shops in the Denver area.

The first shootings were in central Denver on Broadway, a busy street with bars and restaurants, where he killed two women and injured a man, who, police said, is expected to survive.

He then forced his way into a home, which is also a business, and chased its occupants through the building while shooting, but nobody was injured. A man was then shot and killed at a home near Cheesman Park, also in Denver.