Violence erupted at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo in Denver on Saturday around 1 p.m. between two motorcycle clubs resulting in shots fired and stabbings at the annual event. Four individuals were shot, one fatally. One person was stabbed while others were injured in a fist fight between the two groups. Including the one fatality, there were at least eight people injured in the melee, according to a January 30 report from CNN.
At a press conference held Saturday evening, Denver Police Chief Robert White announced that most of those injured and involved in the violence were members from two separate biker clubs. Police are still looking into the backgrounds of the clubs and trying to determine whether they’re local organizations or from outside of the Denver area.
According to NBC News affiliate 9News in Colorado, both motorcycle clubs include law enforcement officials as members although it wasn’t specified whether or not those law enforcement members were undercover agents or not. One of the groups is considered by the FBI to be a “major gang.”
Those injured in the violence were transported to and treated at Denver Health. That facility had to be placed on lockdown Saturday for several hours with heavily-armed officers from the Denver Police Department surrounding the building. CNN quoted White as saying that “We wanted to make sure the incident didn’t spread from the expo to the hospital.”
White announced that although some activities scheduled at the National Western Complex in Denver which hosted the expo will still continue as scheduled, the second day of the Colorado Motorcycle Expo scheduled for Sunday, January 31 has been cancelled. 2016 marks the 30 year anniversary for the expo and the first time any serious incidents occurred at the event.
When the shooting began on Saturday, about 10,000 expo attendees were inside the National Western Complex hall, which is located very close to the Denver Coliseum. For more on the Motorcycle expo shooting in Denver, see the video accompanying this article.
