A teenager, aged 13, has been apprehended in Denver, Colorado, linked to the deadly shooting of Richard Sanchez, 60, following an altercation on a city bus.
The shooting incident, resulting in Sanchez’s death, reportedly sprouted from a disagreement about his leg obstructing the bus aisle.
Denver police were called to the scene of a shooting on a Regional Transportation District (RTD) bus at 6:41 p.m. on January 27, 2024. The location was near the crossroads of South Federal Boulevard and West Mississippi Avenue, approximately three miles from Empower Field at Mile High.
Upon arrival, the police found Sanchez with a gunshot injury. He was later declared dead at a local hospital.
An additional individual suffered minor injuries during the incident, which were treated on the scene, according to the police report.
The teenager involved in the incident was arrested under suspicion of first-degree murder on February 1, less than a week post-incident. The Denver District Attorney’s Office is currently deciding on the charges.
Joseph Chavez, the victim’s grandson, expressed to reporters the intense grief experienced by the family, stating that the loss felt surreal and that Sanchez was a joyful individual.
Chavez added, “I was utterly shattered. It’s unthinkable to me that this could happen to someone so genuine.” He described the situation as challenging, as the family was unaware of Sanchez’s location, only to discover later that he had been in the hospital all along without their knowledge. “He was unaccompanied in his last moments,” Chavez expressed.
The family stated to the press that they were uninformed of his death until they filed a missing person report with the police several days later.
The arrest has initiated conversations about the safety of Denver’s public transportation. RTD records indicate that more than 178 passengers reported assaults or injuries while using transit services in 2021 and early 2022.
