One Dead, Suspect in Custody After Gunfire During Pro-Trump Rally, Counter-Demonstration
Zachary Stieber
Update: The shooting suspect was identified as Matthew Dolloff, a private security guard. The victim was named by family members.
Original story below.
A suspect is in custody after a person was shot dead on Saturday during a pro-President Donald Trump rally in Denver that had been disrupted by counter-demonstrators.
The shooting took place in the courtyard of the Denver Art Museum at approximately 3:37 p.m., Denver Police Investigations Division Chief Joe Montoya told reporters at a press conference.
A verbal altercation transpired just before the shooting.
The person who was struck by gunfire died, police officials said. The shooting is being investigated as a homicide.
A photograph captured by the Denver Post moments before the shooting showed one man spraying mace at another man, who was pointing a gun at him.
Montoya said officers are still trying to determine exactly what happened to lead to the shooting.
A canister of mace was recovered on the scene.
Two people were taken into custody. Both are white males. One is the man who allegedly fired the weapon. He was arrested at the scene immediately after the shooting occurred. The other arrest was related to another incident.
The shooting suspect “is a private security guard with no affiliation with Antifa” the Denver Police Department said in a statement after the press conference. At least one witness had said the shooter was with Antifa.
Antifa, or anti-facist, is a far-left, anarcho-communist network. Some members have openly espoused violence. Some have been arrested in recent years for allegedly engaging in looting, assault, and other crimes.
A self-described Antifa member shot a conservative dead in Portland, Ore., in late August. That man, Michael Reinoehl, was killed by law enforcement officers during an apprehension attempt.
A Denver broadcaster, 9News, said one of its employees, a producer, and one of its contractors were the two people taken into custody.
“A private security guard who was hired by 9NEWS is the suspect detained by DPD. It has been the practice of 9NEWS for a number of months to hire private security to accompany staff at protests,” the broadcaster said in a statement, adding that the producer had been released.
Denver police officers were interviewing multiple witnesses and looking at video footage, including footage captured with cell phones, Montoya said.
The district attorney will determine whether the shooting was in self-defense, according to police officials.
Mark Geist (R) and John Tiegen of the Benghazi Annex Security Team leave the stage after addressing delegates on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 18, 2016. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
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