At Least 9 Injured in Denver Shooting

Facts

• Early on Tuesday, at least nine people were shot by a gunman in Denver while fans congregated on the streets to celebrate the success of the Denver Nuggets in the NBA championship. Multiple firearms were reportedly used in the attack.¹
• Three of those shot were reported to be in critical condition as of Tuesday, while police said the remaining victims had non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities also shot the gunman, who was later taken into custody.²
• The incident took place about 1 mile from Ball Arena, where the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat for the title Monday night. It is not yet known if the victims were in the area to celebrate.³
• A police spokesperson said witnesses were still being interviewed as part of an “expansive” investigation. One bystander said the gunman shot "indiscriminately" and reflected feeling “kind of numb” following the incident.⁴
• Police had closed many downtown streets prior to the crowd exiting the arena, and many officers were already present in the area at the time of the attack due to the scale of the event.⁵

Sources: ¹CBS, ²CNN, ³Washington Examiner, ⁴Associated Press, and ⁵ABC News.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Guardian. We’re just halfway through 2023 and already there have been 291 mass shootings in the US. Yet Congress continues to sit back and watch the carnage unfold rather than passing meaningful federal gun-control laws that could prevent these incidents. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear legislators will ever be motivated to act.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Breitbart. This incident is Example A of why tighter gun control won’t do anything to slow the pace of mass shootings. Denver is ranked No. 12 in the US for restrictive gun laws, yet those laws did nothing to stop a criminal from opening fire on innocent bystanders. The Democrats need to stop pursuing ineffective legislative change.