FOX31 Denver

Montbello neighborhood comes together after deadly shooting

DENVER — Neighbors in Denver’s Montbello community are coming together just days after a deadly shooting.

The R.I.S.E. Network, police and others are creating a Safe Haven Tuesday. They’ll start at Silverman Park at 3 p.m. then march to the New Life Christian Center nearby.

“We want to say that we are beautiful community,” said La Toya Petty, who is with R.I.S.E. “We want to say that we are against violence  in the community. We are not going to tolerate it.”

That violence occurred Saturday night near East 58th Avenue and Peoria Street, where two people were shot and killed and third was critically wounded.

And Sunday, a person was shot near a King Soopers just four miles away.

The Denver Police Department said Monday that the shootings are not connected, nor are they connected to the deadly shooting near Monaco Parkway and Leetsdale Drive a week earlier.

The shooting Saturday might be gang-related, according to police.

Neighbors are concerned, so police are increasing visible patrols in the neighborhood.

Despite the weekend violence, homicides in the neighborhood have decreased 70 percent in the past two years and other violent crime has declined as well.

“This should be a statement from this community to this community that the violence is not going to tolerated,” Denver police Cmdr. Ron Thomas said.

Petty knows about that violence all too well.

“My brother, Johnathan Petty, he was murdered in 2012” Petty said. “He was killed over some marijuana, of all things.”

Since then, she’s made it her life’s mission to help people heal from senseless violence and prevent it in the first place.

“My little brother he’s dead now,” Petty said. “And I’m not say everybody’s perfect — of course he wasn’t perfect — but I am saying life is precious and we need to start treating it like it’s precious.”