 All right, does everybody set and have sound anybody need me to go through and introduce and spell my name or is everybody Okay, sure. It's a commander Ron Sonier SAUN I ER of the major crimes division All right, I want to thank everybody for showing up for the press conference wanted to get out with some information reference the Shooting that occurred at the National Western Stock Show at the motorcycle swap meet that occurred on Saturday Shortly afternoon about 1248 We began getting phone calls. We had some off-duty officers even working there along with some plainclothes detectives that started reporting that they had a shooting at the event and We started our investigation on it Continued that investigation into the early hours of the morning. We still are very active in this investigation Still bringing witnesses down still trying to gather other witnesses that are out there so first thing I'm going to do is if anybody was there and Is witness to this has any video or any information about this? I would encourage you to come forward to the Denver Police Department and Get us that information Like I said, this is still a very active investigation that is going on We did have multiple parties that were shot that day We have three that were pretty critically shot one that was pronounced One of the shooting victims was a minor not that any shooting is minor, but a groovy graze wound We still do have some victims over at the hospital That are still trying to recover Detectives responded down Sunday. We're able to get some more information from some of those victims that were at the hospital and continued on it appears that this event started as a verbal altercation down in an area at the bottom of the stairs that Quickly escalated into a physical assault or physical altercation where ultimately Gunfire occurred we believe that there was multiple parties that Discharged their weapon during this time. Like I said, we had at least four parties that were struck during that Like I said, I would encourage if anybody has video evidence phones pictures and stuff. We've had some stuff trickling into us Just before I came down here, so I would encourage people to come forward with that We did have like I said the witnesses in this. I'm not going to go in and identify or confirm any of the victims slash witnesses Persons of interest in this as this is currently still a ongoing investigation that that is out there and Based on the nature of the crime. I think it's diligent for us to make sure that we are taking care of our witnesses and stuff We believe that there is more than one weapon involved Yes, based on the evidence that we've recovered. We have We know that there was more than one weapon or one firearm used in this incident At this point we are still continuing to go through the investigation. We're trying to talk to all parties involved We're consulting with the district attorney's office. They responded out You know, there's a lot of factors that go into these particular cases That are there so we're continuing to work or continue We have witnesses scheduled to come in throughout the day today We may have other unidentified witnesses out there So we need to look at a complete package for us to make an arrest. We have to develop probable cause we have to eliminate some of the affirmative defenses and stuff that may be out there and It's going to be a complete investigation that will be turned over to the district attorney Who will make the ultimate decision whether? Charges will be accepted or filed in this case But you know based on it just sounds like it was more of a territorial type Verbal altercation that started I don't know if any of you were at the scene prior to this But they had territories kind of set up with some of the motorcycle gangs That were out there that had certain areas and this appears at least based on The the half that are talking to us that you know, it started based on that Altercation that turned physical pretty quick That's you know, I don't we're not going in I know the names are out there, but We do have one of the groups that has been you know down here talking to us and one of the other outlaw Gangs or groups has you know, we've only had one of their parties come forward. So and I That is talking to you Well, you guys are widely reporting that you have a club that's made up of law enforcement, I will tell you It's not a secret that's out there We did have one party that was with that group who is a department of correction employee And I don't want to go into identifying anybody related to this at this point But from all the indications of everybody else that we talked to he is the only one that was an active Law enforcement or department of corrections employee There were no other ones that came forward and talked to us that day that had any current active law enforcement with them So that's one of the things I wanted to clarify I know there's a lot of information that this is a law enforcement club and such But the the group that was down here that we've talked to that we've identified that are willing to you know come back Do not show at least have not identified to us that they have law enforcement ties or connections I do know when you do, you know some research, which I'm sure you've done there have been some incidents with this club out There where there have been certain law enforcement members that have joined this club There one of the individuals I believe may have some past at least what I was told We haven't done complete thorough background checks and you know may come out more But of the names that we had and who we have talked to we did have one Indication that you know he and it's been a while since he was involved in law enforcement Other half that's involved where the victim was a part of that club Is it surprising to you that they're not talking to you based on their reputation? I mean past history that they've had in other Incidents, you know within the city and County of Denver within you know the United States a lot of times you do have a Hesitancy for people to come forward with information. I will tell you that we are working We are reaching out to the attorneys that have been out there and trying to elicit all the cooperation that we can and You know add to do a complete thorough investigation would require that we talk to all parties involved in this situation And I'm not saying that we haven't talked, you know, we've had some cooperation on that end We ultimately need more cooperation Yeah, it's it's limited cooperation at this time I've just talking from my 30 years experience that when you generally come across that their comments Generally, I have nothing to say to you So I'm not going to go into some of those specifics going back 30 years Everybody yeah, I mean we we still have a lot of Investigating to do we have a lot of statements to go we have to you know determine We've got evidence that we're going to need to process and everything else. So yes this is still a very active and ongoing investigation and You know, there's going to be a lot that's got to be determined, you know exactly what's there We've got to look at physical evidence. We have to you know continue to talk to the Witnesses that we have involved Affirmative defense Yeah, I don't want to go into speculation But you know there is a self-defense statute that is on the books that you can talk to any district attorney about Take take look at it to see exactly what it says, you know, it all comes down to What you know a person is going to choose whether they they turn and walk away go get security whether they do that So I don't want to speculate and definitely don't want to get into it related to this case So I don't know that there was any official territories set up and by who I can tell you that as I responded there There were areas set up that were You know being occupied by various You know groups and whether that was set up by the organizer you would have to get with them or whether it's they came in and unofficially Occupied an area based on the numbers that they had it's hard to say I did not see anything that said that there weren't guns allowed at the event, but I did not work the event prior I showed up after this happened and Honestly did not take a whole lot of time checking to see you know what happened I immediately went in towards where the crime scene was and you know began my investigation with my detectives at that time If there are official territories I would I would guess that there was not official territories set up I'm knowing how things go that there would be an unofficial area that Say a motorcycle club or gang or whatever would decide that this is the area that we're occupying You would have to get with the promoters to see if they purchased tables or areas and maybe the promoter Did something to set something up but based on my current investigation And that's talking to a lot of people looking at whatever evidence that we have There was areas within that area where was just highly occupied by different groups I don't have any indication that there was any intentional at this point and that's just based on What we have so far That's not part of my investigation or something that I would even get into on that one From my understanding he is His Certified as far as a peace officer is only applicable at the facility that he works He is not a Sworn peace officer that carries a gun in his official capacity or any of that No, I don't believe so I think as it comes down to even peace officers, you know, it's self-defense or defense of others So in this particular case, I can't tell you throughout this investigation There is absolutely no indication that he was taking any action Related to his employment Yes would be the answer no from both Colorado and out of state We monitor the event I don't want to go into the operations or the security about that but there was a Contingent of officers that were there beyond just the Denver Police Department, but they were not related to this event or Involved in this incident other than being good witnesses I Don't know what this off-duty security. We did have uniformed off-duty there I do not know if there was a contingent that was playing clothes. I do know that we did have on-duty Playing clothes detectives within or undercover detectives in the area At this point we don't that's part of the evidence and processing and everything that we're going to have to do I I mean So that's going to come down to you know evidence processing and everything else confiscated in my We we recovered guns that we have placed that hopefully will give us that evidence I you know, so that's part of the physical evidence that we still need to process going forward I don't want to go into the details, but yes, we will be processing. That's part of what we're going to be You know moving forward with the crime lab across the way I Don't want to go into the detail of the number. It's multiple guns were recovered Yes, we had multiple we we had a very large group based on evidence that's there You know, so yes, there was more than the Well as far as injuries, you know what we know of from you know, we had Under 20 of one group and I am being told by witnesses and everything that you know The one group had 70 80 people there. How many of those participated, you know, I can't tell you We have no indication at this time based on what we have that there has been but that being said We still have multiple parties to invest or to interview and move forward But there's no indication at this point, you know that there was a previous big Deal like, you know from Waco or from one of these other deals these these two groups, I think You know came together in this particular area and it started verbal and quickly escalated Yes, we did have one party that was stabbed multiple times that was transported to the hospital I did not I couldn't tell you because there was none at the door. I came through so I you know I can't tell you if I came through a a normal door or anything, but I Know there was multiple weapons there So I would assume that there probably wasn't that type of security or screening We don't have any surveillance from inside we have obtained and that's why I would highly encourage if anybody is out there Everybody and their brother has cell phones nowadays and we've recovered some of that We we do have some that we're looking at and we would encourage if someone has information to bring us forward We still you know, we still have a lot of witnesses that we're lining up to come down we had some that came down and chose to delay giving a statement we're in the process of Working through and scheduling those as we go I can tell you as soon as I walk down here There's been additional witnesses that are coming forward. So I can't give you a hard number, but you know, it's it's more than your dozen