List of shootings in Colorado
Updated: Wikipedia source
This is a List of notable shootings in the U.S. State of Colorado.
Tables
· List
Ludlow Massacre
Ludlow Massacre
Events
Ludlow Massacre
Location
Ludlow
Date
April 20, 1914
Numberof personskilled
c. 21
Description
The deadliest incident of the Colorado Coalfield War, a major coal miner strike. The Colorado National Guard as well as private guards employed by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company fired on a tent colony of 1,200 strikers and their families.
1993 Aurora, Colorado shooting
1993 Aurora, Colorado shooting
Events
1993 Aurora, Colorado shooting
Location
Aurora
Date
December 14, 1993
Numberof personskilled
4
Description
Nathan Dunlap, 19, who was fired from a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant as a cook, later returned to the restaurant and opened fire, killing four employees and wounding another. He was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder charges and was sentenced to death. In 2013, then-Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper indefinitely delayed Dunlap’s execution. Hickenlooper was expected to order a clemency in his death penalty before his term ended in early 2019 but took no such action. He was succeeded by Governor Jared Polis, who commuted Dunlap's sentence to life imprisonment. Polis said he conferred with the families of Dunlap's victims and felt the crimes were "despicable," but took the action as being consistent with Colorado's prior repeal of the death penalty in cases of new crimes.
Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
Events
Columbine High School massacre
Location
Columbine
Date
April 20, 1999
Numberof personskilled
16(including both perpetrators and a victim in 2025)
Description
Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a shooting spree in which a total of 13 students and one teacher were murdered. They also injured 20 other students directly, with three further people being injured while attempting to escape the school. The pair then committed suicide. It is the sixth-deadliest school massacre in United States history, after the 1927 Bath School disaster, the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the 2022 Robb Elementary School Shooting, and remained the deadliest for an American high school until the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting of 2018.[citation needed]
Subway Valentine's Day shooting
Subway Valentine's Day shooting
Events
Subway Valentine's Day shooting
Location
Littleton
Date
February 14, 2000
Numberof personskilled
2
Description
Stephanie Hart-Grizzell and Nicholas Kunselman were shot in a Subway restaurant. The case remains unsolved.
AMF Broadway Bowling Alley shooting
AMF Broadway Bowling Alley shooting
Events
AMF Broadway Bowling Alley shooting
Location
Littleton
Date
January 27, 2002
Numberof personskilled
3
Description
Bobby Zajac, Erin Golla and James Springer were shot at the AMF Broadway Bowling Alley. The case remains unsolved.
2005 Denver police officer shooting
2005 Denver police officer shooting
Events
2005 Denver police officer shooting
Location
Denver
Date
May 7–8, 2005
Numberof personskilled
1
Description
Two Denver police officers were shot at a dance hall by Raúl Gómez-García.
Platte Canyon High School hostage crisis
Platte Canyon High School hostage crisis
Events
Platte Canyon High School hostage crisis
Location
Bailey
Date
September 27, 2006
Numberof personskilled
2
Description
Duane Roger Morrison took a high school classroom hostage and killed hostage Emily Keyes as she tried to escape. Morrison died after shooting himself and being shot by police.
2007 Colorado YWAM and New Life shootings
2007 Colorado YWAM and New Life shootings
Events
2007 Colorado YWAM and New Life shootings
Location
Arvada/Colorado Springs
Date
December 9, 2007
Numberof personskilled
5
Description
Matthew Murray opened fire at two church organizations in separate cities, killing four and wounding five others before committing suicide.
2010 Deer Creek Middle School shootings
2010 Deer Creek Middle School shootings
Events
2010 Deer Creek Middle School shootings
Location
Littleton
Date
February 23, 2010
Numberof personskilled
0
Description
Bruco Eastwood fired a rifle in the school’s parking lot, wounding two students.He was tackled by faculty and arrested. Eastwood was found legally insane and committed to the state mental hospital.
2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting
2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting
Events
2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting
Location
Aurora
Date
July 20, 2012
Numberof personskilled
12
Description
James Holmes opened fire during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises". Twelve people in the theater were killed and 70 were injured.
2013 Arapahoe High School shooting
2013 Arapahoe High School shooting
Events
2013 Arapahoe High School shooting
Location
Centennial
Date
December 13, 2013
Numberof personskilled
2
Description
Eighteen-year-old student Karl Pierson entered Arapahoe High School carrying Molotov cocktails and a shotgun. He shot another student and then killed himself.
October 2015 Colorado Springs shooting
October 2015 Colorado Springs shooting
Events
October 2015 Colorado Springs shooting
Location
Colorado Springs
Date
October 31, 2015
Numberof personskilled
4(including the perpetrator)
Description
Noah Harpham randomly killed three before being killed by responding police officers. Harpham had been open carrying; some opponents asserted this allowed a delay such that he was able to kill more people than if police intervention would have been warranted by his presence with a rifle.
November 2015 Colorado Springs shooting
November 2015 Colorado Springs shooting
Events
November 2015 Colorado Springs shooting
Location
Colorado Springs
Date
November 27, 2015
Numberof personskilled
3
Description
A shooting and five-hour police standoff occurred at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. A University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer and two civilians (a mother of two and an Iraqi war vet) were killed. Five police officers and four civilians were wounded. The killer, Robert Lewis Dear, was captured after police convinced him to surrender. During his arrest, he gave a "rambling" interview during which he said "No more baby parts."
Thornton shooting
Thornton shooting
Events
Thornton shooting
Location
Thornton
Date
November 1, 2017
Numberof personskilled
3
Description
Scott Ostrem walked into a Walmart, killed three people near the cash registers, then fled the scene. Ostrem had been arrested 14 times before the killings.
2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting
2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting
Events
2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting
Location
Highlands Ranch
Date
May 7, 2019
Numberof personskilled
1
Description
At STEM school in Highlands Ranch, nine were shot including one dead. In 2019, 18-year-old Devon Erickson and another boy stood trial for the shootings.
Aurora Town Center shooting
Aurora Town Center shooting
Events
Aurora Town Center shooting
Location
Aurora, Colorado
Date
December 27, 2019
Numberof personskilled
1
Description
A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed inside a JCPenney in the Aurora Town Center mall. Kamyl Xavier Garrette, 18, was charged with first-degree murder.
2021 Boulder shooting
2021 Boulder shooting
Events
2021 Boulder shooting
Location
Boulder, Colorado
Date
March 22, 2021
Numberof personskilled
10
Description
Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa opened fire in a King Soopers supermarket and killed ten people, including police officer Eric Talley who ran towards gunfire in an attempt to stop the shooter.
2021 Colorado Springs shooting
2021 Colorado Springs shooting
Events
2021 Colorado Springs shooting
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Date
May 9, 2021
Numberof personskilled
7(including the suspect)
Description
Six adults were killed at a birthday party after which the shooter took his own life.
2021 Aurora shooting
2021 Aurora shooting
Events
2021 Aurora shooting
Location
Aurora, Colorado
Date
November 15, 2021
Numberof personskilled
0
Description
Shots were fired near William C. Hinkley High School, resulting in injury to seven. Four teens were charged with attempted murder.
2021 Denver and Lakewood shootings
2021 Denver and Lakewood shootings
Events
2021 Denver and Lakewood shootings
Location
Denver and Lakewood
Date
December 27, 2021
Numberof personskilled
6(including the suspect)
Description
Lyndon McLeod (aka Roman McClay) killed five and injured two at multiple Denver and Lakewood locations. McLeod later exchanged gunfire with a Lakewood police officer and was killed.
Colorado Springs nightclub shooting
Colorado Springs nightclub shooting
Events
Colorado Springs nightclub shooting
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Date
November 19, 2022
Numberof personskilled
5
Description
At Club Q, an LGBTQ+ club, five were killed and 25 wounded.
American Elm restaurant shooting
American Elm restaurant shooting
Events
American Elm restaurant shooting
Location
Denver
Date
April 24, 2023
Numberof personskilled
2
Description
Emerall Vaughn-Dahler and Ignacio Gutierrez Morales were shot and killed inside the American Elm restaurant at 38th Avenue and Raleigh Street in the West Highlands. The case remains unsolved.
Evergreen High School
Evergreen High School
Events
Evergreen High School
Location
Evergreen, Colorado
Date
September 10, 2025
| Events | Location | Date | Numberof personskilled | Description |
| Ludlow Massacre | Ludlow | April 20, 1914 | c. 21 | The deadliest incident of the Colorado Coalfield War, a major coal miner strike. The Colorado National Guard as well as private guards employed by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company fired on a tent colony of 1,200 strikers and their families. |
| 1993 Aurora, Colorado shooting | Aurora | December 14, 1993 | 4 | Nathan Dunlap, 19, who was fired from a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant as a cook, later returned to the restaurant and opened fire, killing four employees and wounding another. He was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder charges and was sentenced to death. In 2013, then-Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper indefinitely delayed Dunlap’s execution. Hickenlooper was expected to order a clemency in his death penalty before his term ended in early 2019 but took no such action. He was succeeded by Governor Jared Polis, who commuted Dunlap's sentence to life imprisonment. Polis said he conferred with the families of Dunlap's victims and felt the crimes were "despicable," but took the action as being consistent with Colorado's prior repeal of the death penalty in cases of new crimes. |
| Columbine High School massacre | Columbine | April 20, 1999 | 16(including both perpetrators and a victim in 2025) | Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a shooting spree in which a total of 13 students and one teacher were murdered. They also injured 20 other students directly, with three further people being injured while attempting to escape the school. The pair then committed suicide. It is the sixth-deadliest school massacre in United States history, after the 1927 Bath School disaster, the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the 2022 Robb Elementary School Shooting, and remained the deadliest for an American high school until the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting of 2018.[citation needed] |
| Subway Valentine's Day shooting | Littleton | February 14, 2000 | 2 | Stephanie Hart-Grizzell and Nicholas Kunselman were shot in a Subway restaurant. The case remains unsolved. |
| AMF Broadway Bowling Alley shooting | Littleton | January 27, 2002 | 3 | Bobby Zajac, Erin Golla and James Springer were shot at the AMF Broadway Bowling Alley. The case remains unsolved. |
| 2005 Denver police officer shooting | Denver | May 7–8, 2005 | 1 | Two Denver police officers were shot at a dance hall by Raúl Gómez-García. |
| Platte Canyon High School hostage crisis | Bailey | September 27, 2006 | 2 | Duane Roger Morrison took a high school classroom hostage and killed hostage Emily Keyes as she tried to escape. Morrison died after shooting himself and being shot by police. |
| 2007 Colorado YWAM and New Life shootings | Arvada/Colorado Springs | December 9, 2007 | 5 | Matthew Murray opened fire at two church organizations in separate cities, killing four and wounding five others before committing suicide. |
| 2010 Deer Creek Middle School shootings | Littleton | February 23, 2010 | 0 | Bruco Eastwood fired a rifle in the school’s parking lot, wounding two students.He was tackled by faculty and arrested. Eastwood was found legally insane and committed to the state mental hospital. |
| 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting | Aurora | July 20, 2012 | 12 | James Holmes opened fire during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises". Twelve people in the theater were killed and 70 were injured. |
| 2013 Arapahoe High School shooting | Centennial | December 13, 2013 | 2 | Eighteen-year-old student Karl Pierson entered Arapahoe High School carrying Molotov cocktails and a shotgun. He shot another student and then killed himself. |
| October 2015 Colorado Springs shooting | Colorado Springs | October 31, 2015 | 4(including the perpetrator) | Noah Harpham randomly killed three before being killed by responding police officers. Harpham had been open carrying; some opponents asserted this allowed a delay such that he was able to kill more people than if police intervention would have been warranted by his presence with a rifle. |
| November 2015 Colorado Springs shooting | Colorado Springs | November 27, 2015 | 3 | A shooting and five-hour police standoff occurred at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. A University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer and two civilians (a mother of two and an Iraqi war vet) were killed. Five police officers and four civilians were wounded. The killer, Robert Lewis Dear, was captured after police convinced him to surrender. During his arrest, he gave a "rambling" interview during which he said "No more baby parts." |
| Thornton shooting | Thornton | November 1, 2017 | 3 | Scott Ostrem walked into a Walmart, killed three people near the cash registers, then fled the scene. Ostrem had been arrested 14 times before the killings. |
| 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting | Highlands Ranch | May 7, 2019 | 1 | At STEM school in Highlands Ranch, nine were shot including one dead. In 2019, 18-year-old Devon Erickson and another boy stood trial for the shootings. |
| Aurora Town Center shooting | Aurora, Colorado | December 27, 2019 | 1 | A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed inside a JCPenney in the Aurora Town Center mall. Kamyl Xavier Garrette, 18, was charged with first-degree murder. |
| 2021 Boulder shooting | Boulder, Colorado | March 22, 2021 | 10 | Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa opened fire in a King Soopers supermarket and killed ten people, including police officer Eric Talley who ran towards gunfire in an attempt to stop the shooter. |
| 2021 Colorado Springs shooting | Colorado Springs, Colorado | May 9, 2021 | 7(including the suspect) | Six adults were killed at a birthday party after which the shooter took his own life. |
| 2021 Aurora shooting | Aurora, Colorado | November 15, 2021 | 0 | Shots were fired near William C. Hinkley High School, resulting in injury to seven. Four teens were charged with attempted murder. |
| 2021 Denver and Lakewood shootings | Denver and Lakewood | December 27, 2021 | 6(including the suspect) | Lyndon McLeod (aka Roman McClay) killed five and injured two at multiple Denver and Lakewood locations. McLeod later exchanged gunfire with a Lakewood police officer and was killed. |
| Colorado Springs nightclub shooting | Colorado Springs, Colorado | November 19, 2022 | 5 | At Club Q, an LGBTQ+ club, five were killed and 25 wounded. |
| American Elm restaurant shooting | Denver | April 24, 2023 | 2 | Emerall Vaughn-Dahler and Ignacio Gutierrez Morales were shot and killed inside the American Elm restaurant at 38th Avenue and Raleigh Street in the West Highlands. The case remains unsolved. |
| Evergreen High School | Evergreen, Colorado | September 10, 2025 |
References
- CNNhttp://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/colorado-theater-shooting/index.html
- Nathan Dunlap on death row for Chuck E. Cheese shooting, CNNhttp://www.cnn.com/2014/07/31/us/death-row-stories-dunlap/
- "CBS-Denver/AP"https://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/11/20/hickenlooper-clemency-nathan-dunlap
- The Denver Posthttps://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/19/chuck-e-cheese-killer-death-sentence-funding-denied/
- The Three Men Polis Spared From Death, Colorado Public Radio, Andrew Kenney, March 23, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2021.https://www.cpr.org/2020/03/23/the-three-men-polis-spared-from-death/
- KUSA.comhttps://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/valentines-day-double-homicide-crime-stoppers-reward-increase/73-e933f502-2588-4961-9203-04c38a3bbf18
- OutThere Coloradohttps://denvergazette.com/outtherecolorado/news/cold-case-high-school-sweethearts-murdered-at-colorado-restaurant-on-valentines-day/article_1488aed9-45ad-587e-a777-d4d53eb033d6.html
- KUSA.comhttps://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/2002-bowling-alley-shooting-littleton-unsolved/73-6bd7950b-dc3f-459a-b5b3-fa5c96df88f2
- www.cbsnews.comhttps://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/triple-murder-littleton-bowling-alley-search-shooter/
- CNNhttps://web.archive.org/web/20060928005535/http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/27/school.shooting/index.html
- "13 Dead After Shooting During 'Dark Knight Rises' Movie"https://web.archive.org/web/20130928143523/http://khitschicago.cbslocal.com/2012/07/20/breaking-news-13-dead-after-shooting-during-dark-knight-rises-movie/
- "Hospital: Teen who was shot at Colo. school dies"https://news.yahoo.com/hospital-teen-shot-colo-school-dies-002724466.html
- "Did Colorado's Open Carry Law Delay Police Response to a Mass Shooter?"https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/11/open-carry-mass-shooting-colorado-springs
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/28/us/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooting.html
- Colorado Springs Gazettehttp://gazette.com/death-of-uccs-police-officer-in-colorado-springs-planned-parenthood-shooting-confirmed/article/1564442
- "Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting: 3 dead, suspect captured (updated)"http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/27/us/colorado-shooting-probe/
- The Denver Posthttps://web.archive.org/web/20151127230543/http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29172660/colorado-springs-firefighters-respond-active-shooter-at-planned
- New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/us/robert-dear-suspect-in-colorado-killings-preferred-to-be-left-alone.html
- Reutershttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-colorado-shooter-idUSKBN0TH05O20151129
- BBC Newshttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34954474
- Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/no-more-baby-parts-suspect-in-attack-at-colo-planned-parenthood-clinic-told-official/2015/11/28/e842b2cc-961e-11e5-8aa0-5d0946560a97_story.html
- Kusahttp://www.9news.com/news/crime/no-suspects-in-custody-after-3-killed-in-thornton-walmart-shooting-police/488159023
- Police Arrest Suspect In Walmart Triple Shooting, CBS4, November 2, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2021.https://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/11/02/police-arresting-suspect/
- Denver Posthttps://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/07/stem-school-shooting-highlands-ranch-douglas-county/
- The Denver Channelhttps://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/aurora-police-responding-to-report-of-shots-fired-at-aurora-town-center
- The Denver Channelhttps://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/crime/aurora-town-center-shooting-suspect-formally-charged
- "Boulder shooting: Gunman kills 10, including police officer, at King Soopers"https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/22/police-active-shooter-shooting-king-soopers-boulder/
- "Colorado Springs mass shooting leaves 7 dead, including suspect, at birthday party: police"https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/09/us/colorado-springs-shooting/index.html/
- cnn.comhttps://www.cnn.com/2021/11/15/us/colorado-teenagers-shooting/index.html
- KDVR Fox 31 Denverhttps://kdvr.com/news/local/4th-teen-charged-with-attempted-murder-in-aurora-hinkley-high-school-shooting/
- KUSA.comhttps://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/officer-injured-shooting-lakewood/73-b98aac87-d657-473a-a3d7-a8f0c085e44a
- The Colorado Sunhttps://coloradosun.com/2021/12/28/denver-lakewood-shooting-spree/
- The Colorado Sunhttps://coloradosun.com/2022/11/20/club-q-shootins-colorado-springs/
- FOX31 Denverhttps://kdvr.com/news/local/victims-identified-in-double-homicide-at-denver-restaurant/
- www.cbsnews.comhttps://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/denver-need-for-clues-reward-raised-unsolved-american-elm-double-murder/
- USA Todayhttps://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/nation/2025/09/10/three-students-shot-colorado-evergreen-high-school-photos/86082341007/
- The Denver Posthttps://www.denverpost.com/2025/09/10/evergreen-high-school-shooting/
- NBC Newshttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/students-wounded-shooting-colorado-evergreen-high-school-rcna230465