Tuesday, January 1, 2008

DENVER NEW YEARS: TWO KILLED BY REVELRY GUNFIRE

11-year-old girl Angelica Martinez, seen here, and an unidentified woman were killed Tuesday morning, Jan. 1, 2008. (Post / Mark T. Osler)


Norma Kaholo, aunt of 11-year-old Angelica Martinez, cries while talking about the young girl's death early this morning. (Post / Mark T. Osler)

Denver police look for slugs on a hillside outside a home where a woman and an 11-year-old girl were killed this morning, Jan. 1, 2008. (The Denver Post / Mark T. Osler)


2 dead in New Year's shooting
By Kirk Mitchell, The Denver Post
Updated: 01/01/2008

An 11-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s were killed early this morning when a single bullet fired from a high-powered rifle ripped through the front of a Denver home where they were attending a New Year's party, police said.

Police called it a "tragic accident" and suspect the shot was fired across a gulch from the home from a distance of up to 300 yards. A second bullet was found in a snowbank in front of the home.

"We're not concerned for public safety — that we have a sniper. It is more likely related to New Year's Eve revelry," said David Fisher, Denver's chief of police investigations.

The girl, identified by an aunt as Angelica Martinez, and the woman, whose identity has not been confirmed, were shot at about 12:20 a.m. at a home in the 4700 block of 11th Avenue.

Police said the pair were at a party at the home attended by about a dozen people. The bullet traveled through the front of the house and struck the woman in the head as she was sitting in a chair. It passed through her head and into Angelica's side, police said.

The woman, who witnesses said is from Fort Collins, was pronounced dead at the scene and Angelica was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.

Police used lasers early Tuesday to trace the bullet's trajectory. And officers scoured an area across the gulch from the home looking for evidence.

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