DENVER — Denver Police Department (DPD) released body camera video and gave an update Wednesday of two shootings involving officers earlier this month.
Police Chief Ron Thomas and Major Crimes Division Commander Matt Clark spoke about both shootings at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, which is when the body camera videos were released.
On June 7, DPD officers were involved in two separate shootings.
The first shooting happened around 4 a.m. in the 2600 block of Zuni Street outside of a Quality Inn. DPD said an unprovoked man walked out of the hotel directly towards a marked patrol car that had arrived a few minutes earlier and shot an officer sitting in the driver seat through the passenger window multiple times.
The officer exited the patrol car and moved to the back while returning fire, hitting the suspect multiple times, according to DPD. The officer then called for backup, who took the suspect into custody and transported him to Denver Health.
The suspect was identified as 35-year-old Nicholas Lendrum. DPD said investigators determined he fired 18 gunshots from a Glock 9mm handgun and was carrying a magazine with an additional 16 rounds. He was also carrying a loaded .38-caliber revolver that was not fired during the incident. Investigators are still working to determine if Lendrum was the owner of the guns.
Lendrum died from multiple gunshot wounds after being transported. The officer was also taken to the hospital after three gunshots hit his bulletproof vest but did not penetrate his body. He suffered pain and significant bruising to the areas where the gunshots hit his vest, and he has since been released from the hospital.
Investigators determined Lendrum drove to the hotel and parked on the west side of the building just after 4 a.m., DPD said. After remaining near his vehicle for several minutes, Lendrum walked past the patrol car without any interaction with the officer and into the hotel.
After asking a clerk about prices to rent a room, and determining it was too expensive, Lendrum walked out of the hotel, which was when the shooting happened, according to DPD.
DPD said investigators have interviewed witnesses and people who knew Lendrum, but have not been able to determine a possible motive for the shooting.
The officer involved in the shooting has been with DPD since 2013, and has not been involved in a previous shooting.
The body camera video from that shooting can be seen below. Viewer discretion is advised:
The second 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.
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 multi-family 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.
>WATCH: Denver Police give update in 2 shootings involving officers
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.
The officer has been with DPD since 2017, and was also involved in another shooting in 2019.
"The department also recognizes and wants to acknowledge the strong language that was used by the officers during their interactions with the suspect," Clarke said. "That language, the nature of the commands that were given to the individual, will be examined as part of the administrative review of this case."
Body camera video from the second shooting can be seen below. Viewer discretion is advised:
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