A fire truck near the end of Denver’s celebratory parade for the Nuggets’ NBA Finals victory struck a police sergeant, who was transported to a hospital with a serious leg injury, authorities said.
The fire truck hit veteran Denver police Sgt. Justin Dodge a block from the end of the parade route near the Denver City and County Building amid thousands of revelers, as the truck was turning right onto Cherokee Street from West 13th Avenue, police Chief Ron Thomas said. There were Nuggets players atop the truck that was involved, police officials confirmed.
Dodge was in front of the fire truck, trying to protect revelers who had moved into the street in front of the vehicle, when the truck rolled up over his left leg, Thomas said. This caused serious injuries that Denver Health Medical Center emergency room chief Dr. Stephen Wolf said could threaten the leg. The officials spoke as Dodge was in surgery shortly after 2:30 p.m., lauding Dodge for protecting people at the parade.
Less than an hour before they spoke, flanked by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, a shooting at 1:45 p.m. near the intersection of 17th and Curtis street left two men hospitalized in serious condition. An unidentified young man captured on surveillance video is suspected of opening fire, despite the heavy police presence downtown — a repeat of shooting violence Monday night in the immediate aftermath of the Nuggets’ victory.
Thomas lamented what he sees as too much evidence that, “unfortunately, we have far too many guns in our community” and that “individuals now in our community are emboldened to act in an irresponsible way, regardless of who is watching.”
At the scene of the fire truck collision, a reporter saw sheriff’s department SWAT officers pick up Dodge and shuttle him off the street in a cart. Barricades were set up in the area to keep the crowds away from the fire truck, and Dodge appeared to be on the other side. A group of Nuggets players who were riding on the truck, including Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and team president and governor Josh Kroenke, were escorted away in a Humvee.
This happened at 11:56 a.m. amid thousands of revelers jammed into downtown Denver, a scene that observers described as a “madhouse” with people climbing over barriers.
It was the second incident this week that marred the celebration of the Denver Nuggets NBA championship, following a shooting that left at least 10 people injured early Tuesday near the intersection of Market and 20th streets. Police said that the earlier shooting likely was related to a fentanyl drug deal amid what had been a jubilant crowd of revelers.
Mayor Hancock addressed the recent violence amid large-scale sports team celebrations, referring to previous victory parades involving the Colorado Avalanche hockey team and the Denver Broncos football team.
“This is something that the city of Denver does well. …. It went well for the most part,” Hancock said, then acknowledged the violence that marred celebrations this week.
“We never want anything to go wrong,” he said, referring also to the shooting of the two men .
“Here we are, again, having to talk about someone endangering the lives of people who come to celebrate.”
Over “the last 72 hours,” the violence in metro Denver also included road-rage shootings in Aurora and along Interstate 25 in Denver, Hancock said, casting the downtown shootings in a broader context beyond downtown and vowing to crack down on perpetrators.
“This really is about young people getting their hands on guns,” he said.
“And if you want to know why people are emboldened, there is a very prolific fentanyl and other drug trade happening all over this country and we have not been immune to it. So, join with us in being honest about what is happening here. We have got to look and understand that our young people are getting their hands on guns. They don’t want to solve a crisis by having a conversation. They are shooting at one another. It makes no sense. … And it is making everyone else unsafe, including the 200 police officers who were there on patrol Monday as well as today.”
Sports editor Matt Schubert contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 10:06 a.m. Friday, June 16, 2023, to correct that the victims in the shooting at 17th and Curtis streets were men.
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