Denver Shooting

One person was fatally shot in Denver on Saturday against the backdrop of opposing rallies between far-right and far-left activists.

The circumstances were still unclear Saturday night, but a local television station reported that a security guard it had hired was being detained in connection with the shooting.

The shooting happened at 3:37 p.m. local time near the courtyard of the Denver Art Museum as the protests were winding down, officials said.

Officers on the scene rendered aid to the victim, who was transported to a hospital where they were later pronounced dead, Investigations Division Chief Joe Montoya said during a news conference Saturday. Montoya said he could not comment on whether a Denver TV station was involved in the shooting when asked during the press conference. Police are interviewing witnessing and reviewing video of the shooting, Montoya said. Initially, Denver police tweeted two people were taken into custody as a result of the shooting, but only one person was taken into custody, Montoya said.

The “Patriot Rally” taking place in Denver was met by counter-protests by several groups who said they were holding a “Black Lives Matter-Antifa Soup Drive”.

The shooting took place in a courtyard of the Denver Art Museum.

Photographs published by the Denver Post newspaper appear to show a confrontation during which the demonstrator strikes the security guard and sprays pepper spray at him before the security guard opens fire.

Denver Police Chief of Investigations Joe Montoya said the incident took place shortly after 15:30 local time (21:30 GMT). He said there had been a “verbal altercation” and a firearm was discharged.

Two guns were recovered at the scene and a suspect was taken into custody, he said.