Office workers in Lower Downtown Denver fled gunshots Tuesday afternoon, running from their desks and out onto Wynkoop Street as a man fired inside the building behind them.
The shooting injured one woman, who was rushed to the hospital for surgery. As of Tuesday evening, she was listed in critical condition, said Dr. Eric Lavonas, chief of emergency medicine at Denver Health.
Police later said the injured woman appeared to have been targeted by the gunman, though it was unclear why. She was shot multiple times.
The gunman, whose identity has not been released, was found dead after apparently shooting himself, Denver police spokesman Doug Schepman said.
The attack happened on the second floor of The Alliance Center at 1536 Wynkoop St. The building is known in political circles as a hub for environmental and social-justice organizations.
“I heard two screams and people shouting, ‘Get out of here, get down!'” said Annie Roethel, who works at a group called Impact Charitable on the building’s second floor.
A woman who also works on the second floor and gave her name only as Kate said she heard a scream and then saw her co-workers run toward the noise. Quickly, though, they turned around and sprinted back toward her. She said she heard six shots, with a pause between each one.
The initial police dispatch, at 2:43 p.m., said there was “an active shooter in the stairwell.” And, soon, the police radio filled with reports coming from people calling 911 while hiding underneath their desks or barricaded inside their office suites.
The city’s SWAT team entered the building within five minutes of receiving the call, according to police dispatch recordings archived on the website Broadcastify. But, by then, many workers had already fled.
“We heard pop, pop, pop and we ran,” said Kate Hawley, who works for the Rocky Mountain Institute on the third floor of The Alliance Center.
“I heard screaming, I saw the door to the second floor open and there was just loud screaming,” said Diana Best, who works for Greenpeace and was at the center for a meeting. “I think there was a lot of confusion. People were screaming, ‘There’s a man with a gun inside!’”
“We just ran,” said Nicole Arnone, who was wearing headphones at her desk when two co-workers tapped her on her shoulder, said they heard gunshots and everyone had to get out. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever ran in my life.”
On her way down the stairwell, Arnone saw shell casings on a second floor stairwell landing but did not see any people there.
Outside, workers in other buildings gazed with a mixture of horror and resignation as the latest act of public gun violence in the state spilled onto the street in front of them.
Andy Ortolans, 29, a consultant working in a building across the street from the Alliance Center, said he first saw people lining up at the window. Then he saw them walk out with their hands raised above their heads. Then he saw paramedics carry a woman out on a stretcher.
“It looked like there was blood on her upper torso,” Ortolans said. “I had the cynical thought that maybe I should be more surprised by this, but I’m not.”
Among those who escaped The Alliance Center and those who watched outside, few expressed total shock at the shooting.
Arnone said she read an article after the Orlando nightclub shooting about what to do during a mass shooting. On Tuesday, she couldn’t believe she was already putting it into practice.
“Honestly I’m just sick of it,” Arnone said of shootings in general. “Today it was my office and I ran out of the building thinking what was the last thing I said to my family. I’m OK, but there are people who are back there who are not.”
Down the street at the Squeaky Bean restaurant, the staff was told to lock the doors and not let anyone in. Tali Rosenstein, the assistant general manager, said they had been watching news about an attack at the Istanbul airport when they heard about the shooting half a block away.
“It’s naive to think these kinds of things don’t happen here,” she said. “You should always be conscious of what is going on around you. When a SWAT team guy says stay inside and don’t go out, that’s what you should do.”
After evacuating The Alliance Center, police loaded witnesses onto city buses to take their statements. Later, they escorted groups bit by bit back into the building to retrieve their purses or car keys.
As evening fell, only a group of about 20 people who work on the building’s second floor remained, huddled under the awning outside the Tattered Cover book store. Police told them they would have to wait even longer before they could go back inside and gather their belongings. None of the 20 wanted to talk about what happened.
Staff writers John Ingold, Yesenia Robles, Claire Cleveland and Colleen O’Connor contributed to this story.
ALERT: #DPD in the 1500 block of Wynkoop on report of male with a gun. Heavy police presence. Streets closed, please avoid the area. #Denver
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) June 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/x_ericahg/status/747896873386577921
active shooting scene on my block; view from my #Denver desk pic.twitter.com/qDRIAa5aMr
— Angela Berardino (@COtravelGirl) June 28, 2016
BREAKING UPDATE: #DPD currently clearing building at 1536 Wynkoop. Remains active investigation, roads in area closed. #Denver
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) June 28, 2016
