Fifth victim dies in Denver shooting spree

Police late Tuesday confirmed the death of a fifth victim in a string of shootings across the Denver metro area Monday night.

Sarah Steck, 28, became the latest casualty in the rampage. She was a hotel clerk at the Hyatt House in Lakewood, Colo. She died Tuesday at a local hospital, police said at a news conference.

“I want to remind folks that we need to keep the victims, their families, in our thoughts and in our hearts,” said Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen.

Denver Police and Lakewood Police provide update on string of shootings Monday night. https://t.co/cOnlA5GkAC

— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) December 28, 2021

Pazen said they are still working to find a motive for the suspect, identified as 47-year-old Lyndon James McLeod, who was fatally shot by police following the shootings and who had written books that fantasized about killing people, according to CBS Denver.

McLeod allegedly began his rampage, which spanned multiple locations, after 5 p.m. on Monday night in Denver, killing two adult females and injuring an adult male at a tattoo shop called Sol Tribe, police said.

The victims were Alicia Cardenas, 44, the owner of the tattoo shop who left behind a 12-year-old daughter; 35-year-old Alyssa Gunn-Maldonado, a yoga instructor; and her husband, Jimmy Maldonado, who is hospitalized but expected to survive, police said.

After the initial shooting, McLeod allegedly fled the scene and broke into multiple residences, firing shots and setting a van on fire in an alley, police said. He allegedly killed an adult male victim who has not been identified yet.

He then traveled to Lakewood where he killed Danny Scofield, 38, at Lucky 13 Tattoo and Piercing. McLeod, followed closely by police, then fled to the Hyatt Hotel where he shot Steck, according to police.

The shooter continued on foot to a shopping strip where he engaged in another shootout with police. McLeod injured an officer but was shot and killed at the scene.

Lakewood Police spokesperson John Romero said the officer who took the shooter down was a three-year veteran, but he declined to name the person. Romero said the officer is in stable condition, and hailed the person’s actions as “heroic.”

Police said McLeod knew the people he shot in the Denver area. He once owned a tattoo shop in the area, according to The Denver Channel.