Man shot and wounded by Denver police in Paco Sánchez Park

DENVER — A man was shot and wounded by a police officer in Paco Sánchez Park after ShotSpotter detected gunfire late Monday.

The shots were detected in the area of west 13th Avenue and Lowell Boulevard around 10:40 p.m. according to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas.

Responding officers located shell casings.

“So they began searching the area for suspects that may have been responsible for that gunfire that led them to Paco Sánchez Park, a park that has been known previously for shots being fired in the area,” Thomas said.

Officers found four men who were in the park and asked them to stop.

“They began to flee. At least one of them dropped a handgun. Another one produced a handgun, causing one of the officers to become in fear. That officer fired a number of shots, striking that individual,” Thomas said.

The wounded man was taken to Denver Health Medical where he was listed in stable conditions.

Officers arrested the suspect who they say dropped the gun.

Police were searching for the two other men who fled the scene.

“We don’t know if they are armed as well, so we have issued a shelter-in-place while we continue to search for those individuals,” Thomas said.

The Denver Police Homicide Unit, Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the officer’s actions.

“The results of that investigation will be monitored by the Office of the independent monitor, and the results will be presented to the Denver District Attorney for their review,” Thomas said.