(CNN) — The suspect in Monday’s metro Denver shooting spree foreshadowed the rampage in a series of books he wrote under a pseudonym, and used the names of actual victims in his writings.
Five people were killed in the shooting and several were wounded — including a female police officer. Investigators believe the gunman targeted some of his victims, but his motive remains unclear, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said.
The gunman — identified as Lyndon James McLeod, 47 — was killed after a gunfight with a police officer.
McLeod wrote under the pseudonym Roman McClay, according to a CNN review of his writings. The writings were first reported by The Denver Post.
McLeod writes in chilling detail in one of his books about a character named “Lyndon Macleod” who dressed in police gear and kills another character by the name of “Michael Swinyard” at a building located at 1300 Williams St.
One of the victims in Monday’s shooting was named Michael Swinyard, according to the Denver County Medical Examiner’s office. Police say he was killed at that same address.
In another book, McLeod writes about a character killing a woman named Alicia Cardenas. The Denver County Medical Examiner’s office said a woman by the name of Alicia Cardenas was killed.
Cardenas, 44, was the owner of Sol Tribe Tattoo & Body Piercing, according to her father, who spoke to CNN Denver affiliate KMGH.
The rampage is among more than 675 shootings that left four or more people dead or injured in the United States this year, according to Gun Violence Archive.
3 of the shooting victims were killed at tattoo parlors, family and police say
Authorities, friends and relatives identified three more victims Wednesday.
Alfredo Cardenas, the father of Alicia Cardenas, told KMGH his daughter was gregarious, friendly and a “real leader in the community.”
Two other Sol Tribe employees were shot in the Monday night rampage, the father told the affiliate.
A Sol Tribe assistant manager, Alyssa Gunn Maldonado, was killed, and her husband, James Maldonado, has been hospitalized after being injured in the shootings, a friend and a former colleague told CNN. James Maldonado was a piercer at the tattoo studio.
Swinyard, 67, was killed in Denver, according the city/county medical examiner. Police Cmdr. Matt Clark previously mentioned a victim who was killed at his home near the Cheesman Park area east of downtown Denver, and the address listed in the medical examiner’s news release is a block north of the park.
Police also identified two other victims in the suburb of Lakewood: Danny Scofield, 38, who was fatally shot at Lucky 13 Tattoo, and Sarah Steck, 28, who was killed while working at the Hyatt House hotel.
Motive behind the shooting still unclear
Denver police investigated McLeod in 2020 and early 2021 but charges were never filed, Chief Pazen said Tuesday.
“This individual was on the radar of law enforcement,” he said without elaborating.
It appears McLeod had some connection to the local tattoo community, via his previous affiliation with a now-shuttered studio, though it’s also unclear whether the shootings are related to McLeod’s previous business relationships.
A Denver tattoo parlor listing McLeod as its “registered agent,” according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, was incorporated in 2005 and became “delinquent for failure to file Periodic Report” in 2017. CNN has reached out to the Denver Police Department for comment.
The site of the former business — just south of the Denver Health Medical Center, where one of Monday night’s shootings took place — is now occupied by a tattoo parlor with a different name. Another incident was reported at that intersection, Pazen said.
“We believe a gun was fired. However, we do not have any injuries at that particular location,” the chief said.
Shooting spree included a car chase and gunfight
McLeod allegedly opened fire at multiple locations around Denver before traveling to Lakewood, about 8 miles west of downtown Denver, Pazen said.
The shootings began just after 5 p.m. when the gunman killed two women and wounded a man in Denver’s busy South Broadway neighborhood, the chief said. Sol Tribe is located on Broadway.
The wounded man was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition Tuesday but is expected to survive, said Clark, the Denver police commander.
Authorities then received a call about a burglary where, Clark said, the suspect broke into a building and shot at people. They escaped uninjured. Several blocks away, the gunman killed the man in his home near Cheesman Park, Clark said.
Shots were also fired near the emergency department at Denver Health Medical Center, but no injuries were reported, Pazen said.
Denver police identified a black Ford linked to the incident and gave chase, leading to a gunfight, the chief said.
“We believe the individual, after disabling the police car, fled into Lakewood,” he said.
Authorities received a report of shots fired at Lucky 13 Tattoo just before 6 p.m., Lakewood police spokesman John Romero said. Scofield was pronounced dead at the scene.
The gunman made his way to the Hyatt House Hotel in a shopping center a few miles away, where he allegedly shot Steck, who died later, police said Tuesday.
A Lakewood officer eventually confronted McLeod in a shopping area near the hotel and exchanged gunfire, police said. The officer was hit once but was able to shoot McLeod, killing him, police said.
The officer is expected to recover, Romero said.
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