Gunman kills four people and injures officer in Denver area

At least four people were killed and three injured, including a police officer, after a series of shootings across the Denver area.

He said the shootings started shortly after 5pm, when two women were killed and a man was injured. A man was then killed at a second location. A gun was fired at a third location but no injuries were reported.

Shortly before 6pm, Lakewood police got a call reporting shots fired at a business. John Romero, a Lakewood police spokesman, said one person was pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect ran to a shopping centre and threatened a business before taking cover at a Hyatt Place hotel where he shot a clerk who was taken to hospital.

The suspect fled and was confronted by a police officer, who was shot. On Monday night, the officer underwent surgery. After more gunfire with police, the suspect was killed. It was unclear whether the suspect was killed by police but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators were checking for bullet holes in the aluminum window frame of another store. Nearby sat a two-door Honda Civic, with a bullet through the hood and a flat front tire.

It was the latest of several shootings in Colorado this year. In March, 10 people were killed by a gunman at a grocery store in Boulder. Two months later, six people were killed by a gunman at a birthday party in Colorado Springs.

Last month, six teenagers were injured in Aurora in a drive-by shooting.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 687 mass shootings in the US in 2021.