Colo. authorities investigate link between books, victims
DENVER — A man accused of killing five people in a rampage in Denver is believed to have written fictional books self-published online that named some of his real-life victims and described similar attacks.
The writings are part of the investigation into what led Lyndon James McLeod to carry out the shootings, which took place in less than an hour Monday at several locations around the metro area, Denver police spokesman Doug Schepman said Wednesday.
McLeod, 47, knew most of the people he shot through business or personal relationships, police have said. Four of those shot were attacked at tattoo shops. In addition to those killed, two other people were wounded, including a police officer who shot and killed McLeod after being hit.
In the first novel, written under a pen name of Roman McClay, a character named Lyndon stalks a poker party held by a character named “Michael Swinyard” and gains access to a building near Cheesman Park by posing as a police officer. He then fatally shoots everyone at the party.
In Monday’s attack, Michael Swinyard, 67, was fatally shot at a home near Denver’s Cheesman Park, police said.
In his second novel, which also features a character named Lyndon, McClay names Alicia Cardenas as a victim. The book also mentions the tattoo shop she owned, Sol Tribe.
Tattoo artist Alicia Cardenas, 44, was among his first victims in Monday’s rampage. She was killed at her shop, along with another woman, Alyssa Gunn, 35. A man who was also wounded there is expected to survive, police said. He was identified by friends as Gunn’s husband, James Maldonado, a piercer there.
That shop is less than a mile from a tattoo shop that McLeod was listed as the lease holder for between 2014 and 2016. Cardenas later took it over before moving the shop to its current spot, city records show.
Soon after the shooting at Cardenas’ shop, McLeod forced his way into a residence that is also home to a business. City records show it is licensed as a tattoo shop. He pursued the occupants through the building and fired shots, but no one was injured, Clark said. Then he shot and killed Swinyard near Cheesman Park.
Just before 6 p.m., the Lakewood Police Department received a report of shots fired at the Lucky 13 tattoo shop. Danny Scofield, 38, was killed there, Lakewood police spokesperson John Romero said.
When officers spotted the car suspected of being involved in the shooting at the Belmar shopping area, McLeod opened fire and officers shot back, Romero said. He ran away and allegedly threatened some people in a restaurant with a gun before going to the Hyatt House hotel, where he spoke briefly with clerk Sarah Steck, 28, before shooting her, he said. Steck later died of her injuries.
About a minute later, Lakewood police Officer Ashley Ferris was shot in the abdomen but fired back and killed the gunman.