Police shooting took 10 seconds

Suspect robber of Colfax 7-Eleven dead and 2 bystanders injured in incident

The police shooting Wednesday night on East Colfax Avenue took place in a matter of seconds, forcing a police officer to fire his gun at a robbery suspect running down the sidewalk of one of the city’s busiest streets.

By the time the shootout ended a Denver Police Department officer was wounded. The robber was dead. And two bystanders had been injured in the crossfire.

“It’s important to know this whole thing took place in less than 10 seconds,” said Denver Police Department Cmdr. Barb Archer, head of the major crimes division. “The officers’ intention was to take him to the ground. He’s the one who initiated the gun fight.”

The shooting happened Wednesday night after a 7-Eleven convenience store clerk flagged down two Denver Police Department officers to report a robbery at the store on the corner of East Colfax Avenue and Pennsylvania Street.

The robber, later identified as 29-year-old Carnell Nelson, died later that night at a local hospital from gunshot wounds. Denver police officer Travis Lloyd suffered a gunshot wound to his thigh. He fired shots at Nelson even after he had been struck by a bullet, Archer said. Lloyd was treated at an area hospital and released a few hours after the shooting.

A woman standing behind the officers also was struck in the leg by a bullet. She underwent surgery for her injury and remains hospitalized, Archer said. A man, who was eating inside Slice Works pizza restaurant about two blocks away, was grazed in the neck by a bullet that had ricocheted off another building and blasted through the restaurant’s upstairs window before lodging in a TV, Archer said.

Investigators believe the woman was shot by the robber while the man at Slice Works was hit by the officer’s bullet.

Before the robbery happened, the 7-Eleven clerk, who was on duty by himself, went outside for a cigarette break. He was asking customers to wait with him outside to finish, but the robber ignored the request and went inside, Archer said.

The clerk followed the robber inside and the robber pulled a gun. The robber ran outside and ran toward the officers, who were passing in a patrol car.

The robber was carrying the cash register drawer under his arm. As police yelled for him to stop, the robber turned and fired first, she said.

The officers recorded the incident on their body cameras, Archer said. A number of witnesses have cooperated with an internal investigation into the shooting.

The shooting remains under investigation by the Denver District Attorney’s Office.