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DENVER (KDVR) — Denver’s district attorney is charging a 15-year-old with attempting to murder a police officer.

Off 30th Avenue between North Gilpin and Williams streets, where traces of a bullet through a car windshield mark the location, an affidavit states that ShotSpotter detected 36 rounds in the alleyway just before 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Police responded and say they found armed teens, one of them 15 years old. 

“It’s not normal for that many rounds in any neighborhood,” Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said. “I think the most concerning statistic is that he was 15, you know, 15 and has done something that will have a significant impact on the rest of his life.”

The affidavit states that when police found three males nearby, two of them complied with officers’ orders to stop. Documents continue to say the third male, a 15-year-old, continued to walk while reaching into his hoodie pocket with something that looked “heavy” inside.

According to the affidavit, the officer feared he was reaching for a gun and tried to squeeze the teen’s elbows together from behind in an attempt to stop him from reaching into his front pocket. That’s when police say the teen put his right hand fully into the front pocket of his hoodie, leaned to the left and fired a shot at the officer, according to the document.

The weapons reportedly recovered from this teen’s pocket were two Glocks, one with a switch making it fully automatic.

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“It’s troubling to know that that it’s a young person, who shouldn’t even have access to a weapon of this particular type, was in a position to harm an officer,” Thomas said. “I am, though, encouraged to know that officers continue to go out there every day and do a good job.”

Tyson Worrell, the president of the Denver Police Protective Association, spoke to FOX31 about the current Denver crime climate involving youth violence.

“I think what we’re seeing now is that, you know, with with the advent of PR (personal recognizance) bonds, post-COVID and some of the other legislative changes that have happened, that young people and criminals in general, people that are out committing crimes in your neighborhood, are more emboldened,” Worrell said.

“Public safety is a community responsibility,” Worrell added. “And we are only one arm of that public safety system that’s in place. We all need to get back to doing some basic things for humanity.”

Along with changes in laws, Thomas believes more needs to be done to uplift teens in the community.

“There’s a need for the community to continue to open their arms and address young people that seem to be having a struggle that leads them to being engaged in gun violence,” Thomas said.