Police Continue To Search For Armed & Dangerous Suspect In Baker Neighborhood Shooting
DENVER (CBS4) - Police in Denver continue to search for a suspect in a deadly shooting in the historic Baker neighborhood.
Police believe that Darius Eugene Ratcliff, 19, was the gunman. Ratcliff is described as a black male, 5-foot-9, 150 pounds, black hair with brown eyes. He is considered armed and dangerous.
Denver's Baker neighborhood remains a neighborhood in transition as young professionals move in. Late on Friday at the intersection of South Bannock Street and West Bayaud Avenue, those two cultures faced the reality of a deadly shooting.
Less than 24 hours later, several neighbors, too scared to talk on camera, told CBS4's Howard Nathan police found two handguns. One gun was pulled off the roof of a garage and a second elsewhere in an alley parallel to Bayaud Avenue near the shooting.
Neighborhood resident Tom Mesaros heard two pops from a gun. He would then hear several more shots before midnight Friday night. Off-camera a frightened woman described hearing multiple shots with the gunman firing several rounds into a teenage girl who was outside and already on the ground.
"And then I heard a series of about five or six more", Mesaros said.
Other neighbors say a house on the southeast corner of Bannock was hosting a birthday party. The location was posted on Facebook.
Another resident described how an ambulance picked up the wounded. Four people had been shot. One would die.
"Then we really got the gravity," said Brian Morgan, who recently moved into the old neighborhood south of downtown.
Moments after the rapid gunfire neighbors stepped outside to investigate.
Everyone started coming out to ask questions about what was going on. I heard a woman screaming. It seemed like she had just found out someone she knew or loved has been injured or maybe the sight of a wound really scared her," said Morgan.
A surveillance camera in the back of the house might've captured video of the suspects entering through a back door. At some point in the chaos scrambling through a front door and young people running for their lives someone left shoes in the middle of the street.
"Scary to think such brutal violence can happen in my home street," said Morgan.
Police were not ready to identify the deceased, but as of Saturday night one person remained in critical condition. Two others walked into the hospital.
Additional Information From The Denver Police Department
Remain anonymous and earn up to $2,000. Call Crime Stoppers at (720) 913-STOP (7867). Text to CRIMES (274637) then title DMCS and enter the message, or send an e-mail to metro-denvercrimestoppers.com; or use the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers mobile app which is immediately available as a free download on smartphones.
Howard Nathan is a veteran newsman. Decades later, he still enjoys writing a clever sentence, asking the tough question and talking to people in Colorado. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Howard and read his bio.
