DENVER (KDVR) — Denver prosecutors have filed first degree murder charges against the alleged perpetrator of a March shooting in Civic Center Park.
On March 8, police officers responded to a shooting at the park to find 35-year-old Michael Fowler lying on the ground with a gunshot wound. The suspect, Gary Baldwin, fled the scene, jumping fences and removing his outer clothing.
An undercover officer tracked the escape, and uniformed officers recovered Baldwin shortly after, along with a plastic bag of suspected fentanyl and crack cocaine, and the firearm.
Bystanders reported the Baldwin had stood over the victim and laughed after the shooting. The arresting officer said Baldwin offered to fight whoever took his fingerprints after he’d been taken into custody.
Fowler later died of his wounds.
The state capitol building went into lockdown as a precaution for roughly 35 minutes.
Baldwin’s next court hearing is scheduled for April 16.