2 Killed, 1 Critical After Being Shot At Halloween Party
DENVER, Colo. (CBS4) - Two people died after they were shot during a Halloween party in Denver's Swansea neighborhood Saturday.
Neighbors said the gunshots rang out outside of a home on Columbine Street near 43rd Avenue.
A third person was also shot and in critical condition.
Police were investigating, and no arrests had been made.
Residents had decorated the outside of the home with Halloween skeletons, capes, and cob webs -- eerie reminders of the deadly crime.
"I've seen a lot of loss in this city," said Cordelia Randell, who drove to the murder scene where one of the adult students whom she coaches had been shot to death.
Randall said that Terrence Ashley, 37, had been attending Upstream Career Development Program for about five weeks.
"It really hurts that this has happened because we saw great potential in Terrence," Randall said.
She described Ashley as a leader and a professional at the top of his class.
"He had a gift for connectedness and for bringing people together in a positive way," Randall said.
First responders rushed Ashley and two other men to the hospital with gunshot wounds. Ashley and another unidentified man died from their injuries.
A third gunshot victim remained in the hospital in critical condition.
Neighbors said that Ashley had been attending a Halloween birthday party for his young niece when the shots went off outside of her family's home.
Friends flooded Ashely's Facebook page Sunday with comments of loss and disbelief.
Manuel Escorza, a neighbor who lives two houses down, said that he heard seven gunshots not long before midnight.
Randall pleaded for the violence to end.
"It has to stop," Randall said. "Good lives are being taken. Especially (the lives of) African-American men. We don't have any more lives to give."
A Denver police spokesperson said that there was no suspect description.
There was no word on the motive behind the shooting.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
