Denver shooting spree: 3 victims killed at area tattoo parlors, police and family say

One of the slain victims, 44-year-old Alicia Cardenas, owned Sol Tribe Tattoo & Piercing, her father, Alfredo Cardenas, told CNN affiliate KMGH. Along with his only daughter — who he described as gregarious, friendly and a “real leader in the community” — two other Sol Tribe employees were shot during the Monday night rampage, the father told the affiliate.

A Lakewood officer eventually confronted the suspect, who police have identified as 47-year-old Lyndon James McLeod, in a shopping area near the hotel and exchanged gunfire, police said. The officer was hit once but was able to compose herself and shoot McLeod, killing him, police said.

The officer is expected to recover, Lakewood police spokesman John Romero said.

Motive unclear

Denver police investigated McLeod in 2020 and early 2021 but charges were never filed, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said Tuesday.

“This individual was on the radar of law enforcement,” he said without elaborating.

Investigators believe McLeod targeted some of his victims, but his motive remains unclear, the chief said.

It appears McLeod had some connection to the local tattoo community, via his previous affiliation with a now-shuttered studio, though it’s also unclear if the shootings are in any way related to McLeod’s previous business relationships.

A Denver tattoo parlor listing McLeod as its “registered agent,” according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, was incorporated in 2005 and became “delinquent for failure to file Periodic Report” in 2017. CNN has reached out to the Denver Police Department for comment.

The site of the former business — just south of the Denver Health Medical Center, where one of Monday night’s shootings took place — is now occupied by a tattoo parlor with a different name. Another incident was reported at that intersection, Pazen said.

“We believe a gun was fired. However, we do not have any injuries at that particular location,” the chief said Monday.

A car chase and gunfight

McLeod allegedly opened fire at multiple locations around Denver on Monday before traveling to Lakewood, about 8 miles west of downtown Denver, Pazen said.

The shootings began just after 5 p.m. when the gunman killed two women and injured a man in Denver’s busy South Broadway neighborhood, the chief said. Though police have not identified the victims in the first shooting, Sol Tribe is located on Broadway.

The injured man was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition Tuesday but is expected to survive, said Clark, the Denver police commander.

Authorities then received a call about a burglary where, Clark said, the suspect broke into a building and shot at people. They escaped uninjured. Several blocks away, the gunman killed the man in his home near Cheesman Park, Clark said.

Shots were also fired near the emergency department at Denver Health Medical Center, but no injuries were reported, Pazen said.

Denver police identified a black Ford linked to the incident and gave chase, leading to a gunfight, the chief said.

“We believe the individual, after disabling the police car, fled into Lakewood,” he said.

Authorities received a report of shots fired at Lucky 13 Tattoo just before 6 p.m., said Romero, the Lakewood police spokesman. Scofield was pronounced dead at the scene.

The gunman made his way to the Hyatt House Hotel in a shopping center a few miles away, where he allegedly shot Steck, who died later, police said Tuesday. The rampage came to a close after the Lakewood officer killed McLeod in the shopping area near the hotel, police said.