A private security guard who was arrested in connection with a fatal shooting during clashing political demonstrations in Denver on Saturday has been identified by authorities.
Denver Police said Sunday that 30-year-old Matthew Dolloff was being detained amid an investigation of first degree murder following the shooting incident that occurred as a left-wing rally and a right-wing rally took place at the Civic Center in the downtown area of the Colorado city.
Jarring photos from the scene show one protestor macing another man, who is seen pointing a gun at him. Another image shows the protestor on the ground as the gun-wielding man stands nearby.
The man who sprayed the mace was participating in the right-wing protest, described as a “Patriot Rally,” according to the Denver Post.
Denver news station KUSA confirmed that it contracted the security guard suspected of being involved with the shooting to attend the protest with its staff.
A producer for the news station’s investigative unit was also taken into custody but has since been released after authorities determined he didn’t have a role in the incident, according to KUSA.
The left-wing rally was called the “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive.” Police have said the suspect has “no affiliation with Antifa.”
Authorities have not released the name of the victim. A woman named Carol Keltner wrote in a Facebook post that her son was killed at the demonstration.
“My son Lee was at the patriot rally today in Denver,” she wrote on Northeast Arkansas Tea Party Group page. “After the rally a person on the BLM and Antifa side went up to him said a few nasty words then shot him in the head. He was murdered because he backed the police. His 24 year old son was with him.”
The conflicting protests largely consisted of the two groups shouting and chanting before the shooting, with the left-wing demonstrators holding up signs denouncing Nazis and white supremacists.
