DENVER (KDVR) — Lakewood’s shootings and gun-related violence have more than doubled from its 2010s average.
The Lakewood Police Department said two people are dead and one is in the hospital after a shooting in the area of West 14th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard Thursday afternoon. Police said there is no suspect in custody but do not believe there is a threat to the community.
Colorado cities have gotten consistently more violent in the last decade, particularly Denver and Aurora. Lakewood has not escaped the trend. There were 459 firearm-related violent crimes in Lakewood in 2022, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation data. Through the 2010s, there were 184 per year on average.
Gun-related crimes have risen every year in Lakewood beginning in 2019 when there were 183. Both 2021 and 2022 set new records for the number of firearm violent crimes. There was a record-setting 306 in 2021, then another record-setting 459 in 2022.
The trend is most pronounced with the number of gun-related aggravated assaults — shootings that do not result in death or menacing with a firearm. Firearm-related aggravated assaults were triple what they were in 2015.
Not only are the total number of firearm-related violent crimes going up, but they also belong to a higher share of violent crime.
Through the 2010s, fewer than one in five violent crimes was firearm-related at 19%.
In 2022, 34% of Lakewood’s violent crime was firearm-related, being one in three of each crime.