Denver's Spot Spotter system resulted in a shootout with a juvenile and officers after a brief chase

The shooting took place the same day after officers responded to a Shot Spotter alert just before 7:30 p.m. that seven gunshots had been fired in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Dexter Street.Show more

Responding officers found shell casings in an alley in the area and were flagged down by a witness who provided a description of the man who fired the gunshots and a woman he was with, DPD said.

Officers located a juvenile suspect and woman that matched the description about a minute later near the intersection of MLK and Elm Street, according to DPD. After officers approached the suspect with their lights active.

The suspect then rode a scooter past the officer's vehicle on MLK and then cut between two multifamily homes and ran towards the alley between MLK and Thoreau Place, DPD said. The officers then parked their car in position to cut the suspect off, who began running in the opposite direction after seeing the officers.

At that point, DPD said the officer saw a gun in the suspect's hand and ordered him to drop it. The suspect then ran south through the alley, and while he was running away he turned around and fired gunshots, hitting one officer with a gunshot.

The officer immediately returned fire, hitting the suspect multiple times, according to DPD. The suspect was then taken into custody and transported to the hospital for treatment. The suspect has since been released from the hospital and is being held at the Gilliam Youth juvenile detention center.

The officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was taken to the hospital in good condition and has been released. It was determined that the bullet that hit the officer struck a magazine he was carrying on his belt, and that a piece of the bullet or shrapnel from the magazine hit his lower abdomen, causing significant bruising and pain.

The Shot Spotter system determined 10 gunshots were fired during the exchange between the officer and the suspect, and when examining the officer's gun investigators determined he fired eight rounds, DPD said.

The gun found in the suspect's possession was a Taurus 9mm handgun with a drum-style magazine capable of holding up to 50 rounds, DPD said. Shell casings recovered from the shooting involving the officer were forensically matched to casings recovered from the scene where the first shooting was reported.