A resident of Denver, Colorado, was killed on Saturday in the wake of a shooting that took place during two opposing rallies at the city’s Civic Center Park, one pro-police and one anti-police, the Denver Police Department said.
The two sides were reported by some to be right-wing pro-police “Patriot Rally” members and, on the other side, Black Lives Matter protesters.
“Officers are investigating a shooting that occurred in the Courtyard by the Art Museum. 1 victim transported to the hospital their condition is unknown,” the police department said.
Police in their initial report that the shooter had been at the crime scene. He was identified as “a private security guard with no affiliation with Antifa”.
Later, police said that a second suspect had been detained in relation to the shooting and that the unnamed victim was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Denver police said that it is now investigating the incident as a homicide.
Footage of the deadly shooting was posted on social media. In the video, shooting can be heard before police forces, present at the scene at the time, rushed in the direction of the gun sound to find the victim lying on the ground covered with blood, while a shooter stood nearby.
The Denver Post reported that a private security guard had shot the victim after the latter sprayed mace at him and that the victim was part of the pro-police “Patriot Rally”.
A video of what happened prior to the shooting was also posted online. The masked victim appears in the video as another man tells him, “Go ahead and f**king mace me”. Seconds later, seemingly, the victim maced another person and then the guard shot him.