DENVER — Denver Police said on Friday that they arrested a suspect accused of getting into an argument with a group of people downtown, waving around a knife at a crowd, and fatally stabbing a man.
One witness told police that the suspect in the stabbing Thursday morning near Park Avenue West and Lawrence Street started arguing with the group of people because they were migrants from Venezuela, according to Denver Police's probable cause statement.
Officers responded at 10:49 a.m. Thursday to a report of a stabbing and found one victim, a man, who was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Another person was reported as stabbed, but a second victim hasn't been found, police said.
Police identified the suspect as Gido Izquierdo-Ortega, 64.
According to the PC statement, the suspect, who was known as "Cuba," starting arguing with a group of people. One of the people kicked the suspect, who then pulled out a knife. For several minutes, bystanders attempted to direct him away and some people used a long stick to poke the suspect as he waved the knife.
A man who wasn't involved in the argument crossed the street and approached, and the suspect stabbed him with the knife, police said. The man didn't do anything to provoke the suspect, witnesses told police, according to the PC statement.
After the stabbing, several people threw objects at the suspect, including a concrete block, and knocked him to the ground. Several bystanders continued to strike the suspect until he appeared to be unconscious, police said. Izquierdo-Ortega was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Witnesses told police that there had been an argument the previous night between the suspect and a group of people in the area where the stabbing later occurred, according to the PC statement.
The Denver Medical Examiner's Office will release the identity of the victim at a later date.
Izquierdo-Ortega was being held in the Denver jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. Charges will be determined by the Denver District Attorney's Office.
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