Denver Shooting Suspect Worked As Security Guard In Violation Of Law - License Department

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th October, 2020) Matthew Robert Dolloff, the 30-year-old suspect in the Saturday Denver shooting, was not licensed to work as an armed private security guard in the city, spokesman for the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses Eric Escudero said.

"We do not currently have an active license and have never had an active license for anybody with that name," Escudero said as quoted by The Denver Post on Sunday. "If he was operating as a security guard, he was in violation of the law," the spokesman added.

The cities of Denver, Colorado Springs and Glendale require private security guards to obtain city-issued licenses, but there are no statewide license requirements in Colorado.

According to The Denver Post , Dolloff was working as a contracted security guard for Denver television station 9News when the Saturday shooting occurred amid a pro-police and an anti-police rally underway at Denver's Civic Center Park.

The man who was shot and killed was identified as Lee Keltner by his son, who told The Denver Post on Sunday that 49-year-old Keltner was a Navy veteran who ran a hat-making business in the Denver area.

"He wasn't a part of any group," the man's son, Johnathon Keltner said. "He was there to rally for the police department and he'd been down there before rallying for the police department."

Carol Keltner, a woman who identified herself as Lee Keltner's mother, said in a Facebook message that her son "was murdered because he backed the police."

Denver Police said on Saturday that the shooting was being investigated as a homicide and that two suspects were in custody. Later, one of the suspects was released as he was not connected to the shooting. Police said that the remaining suspect, a private security guard whose identity was not being released by law enforcement, had no affiliation with Antifa.

According to Denver Police, the shooting started as a verbal altercation. Two guns and a mace can were found at the scene of the shooting.

Dolloff remained in jail on Sunday, after the judge declared that he would be held on first-degree murder charges without bond, The Denver Post said