Thread: Three shot at Denver pot rally

Three shot at Denver pot rally

posted at 11:01 am on April 21, 2013 by Jazz Shaw


This was pretty easy to overlook given The Week That Was, but there was some sort of marijuana based celebration going on yesterday, marking the date of 4/20. (If you really care why that number is associated with smoking pot, there’s a brief history of it here.) This year was particularly notable for herb enthusiasts in Colorado, where recreational use of the drug by people over the age of 21 was legalized this year. This confluence apparently led to the scheduling of a major rally, music festival and speech making opportunity this weekend. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be all peace, love and flowers.

Three people were shot and wounded at a pro-marijuana rally on Saturday, disrupting the first celebration of a symbolic drug culture holiday since Colorado voters legalized the recreational use of pot.
A man and a woman were each shot in the leg and a youth was grazed by a bullet, but the wounds were not life-threatening, Denver police said on Twitter. Officers were looking for two suspects in the shootings, which occurred as the rally was winding down.
“I heard five or six gunshots in quick succession,” said Cole Wagenknecht, 27, who attended the rally at a downtown park near the State Capitol. “That’s why I knew it wasn’t fireworks. Then everybody started to scatter and ran toward one end of the park.”

This is one of those stories with the potential to turn into an entire political circus on its own, with not only drug legalization, but guns, police surveillance, state rights vs federal control… the list goes on. But given the near total lack of facts and details, there’s not much to go on here. They haven’t identified the shooter(s) at this point, so we have no way of knowing if it was some violent supporter of legalization, some opponent looking to attack the hippies, or just a guy who felt he was sold a bag of sub-standard product.
In any event, here’s the video report so you can draw your own conclusions.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/04/21/three-shot-at-denver-pot-rally/

Denver police scan video, identify possible suspect in in Colorado pot holiday ...

Washington Post

- ‎34 minutes ago‎

(The Denver Post, Joe Amon/ Associated Press ) - The crowd runs away from gun shots at Civic Center Park after the 4/20 pot rally, Saturday, April 20, 2013 in Denver. Gunfire erupted at a Denver pot celebration Saturday, injuring two people and scattering a crowd of thousands who had gathered for the first 4/20 counterculture holiday since the state legalized marijuana.

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By Associated Press, Apr 22, 2013 02:28 AM EDT
AP Updated: Sunday, April 21, 7:28 PM

DENVER — Denver police on Sunday pointed to a YouTube video they say shows a possible suspect in the weekend shooting at a marijuana celebration that injured two people and scattered a crowd of thousands.
The shooting on Saturday took place during the outdoor celebration of the first 4/20 counterculture holiday since Colorado legalized marijuana. Denver police spent much of Sunday scanning video taken at the event.

Police spokesman Sonny Jackson told The Denver Post (http://bit.ly/ZGZFPZ ) that the suspect is shown in the video walking in a crowd away from the scene of the shooting as sirens wailed in the background.
The suspect, a black male who was wearing a brown and white checkered shirt, can be seen about six seconds into the video, he said.
“We are seeking this individual as we believe he assisted the primary suspect after the shooting,” Jackson said in an email to the newspaper.
The police gang unit has taken over the investigation, although it isn’t yet clear if gangs were involved, he said.
Witnesses on Saturday described a scene in which a jovial atmosphere quickly turned to one of panic at the downtown Civic Center Park just before 5 p.m.
Several thought firecrackers were being set off, then a man fell bleeding, his dog also shot. Witnesses said as many as 10 shots could be heard.
A man and a woman each suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds. Additionally, a juvenile who was grazed by a bullet walked to a nearby hospital, police said.
Police said they were also looking for a second black man — one who was dressed in a grey hoodie and light blue baseball cap.
“When gunfire happens people run away. Now that things have calmed down, we would like them to come back and talk to us,” Jackson said.
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— Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMSbj0VJnVw
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/denver-police-scan-video-identify-possible-suspect-in-in-colorado-pot-holiday-shooting/2013/04/21/823483e6-aaf0-11e2-9493-2ff3bf26c4b4_story.html

Police identify possible suspect in Colo. shooting

Updated 10:50 am, Monday, April 22, 2013

DENVER (AP) — Denver police Monday said they have learned the identity of a suspect seen on a YouTube video of people leaving a shooting at a marijuana celebration that wounded two people and scattered a crowd of thousands.

The man is shown walking away from the shooting scene as sirens wail in the background, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. The suspect is a described as an accomplice to the primary, unidentified suspect in the shooting who was wearing a blue hat, grey sweatshirt and black pants.

"We've identified the man. We're not releasing his name because he's not in custody yet," Jackson said.

Saturday's shooting happened at the end of an outdoor celebration of the first 4/20 counterculture holiday since Colorado legalized marijuana. A man and a woman suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds. A juvenile grazed by a bullet was treated at a nearby hospital, police said.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/...#ixzz2RDVA19GZ