Broncos player wounded in shooting after leaving strip club

DENVER — Denver Broncos wide receiver Josh Reynolds and another man were injured in a shooting early Friday morning in Denver after they were followed from a strip club.

Shortly after 3 a.m. on Oct. 18, someone called 911 about a shooting near East Hampden Avenue and South Dahlia Street. The caller reported he was driving a blue Ford Bronco and said he had been shot, according to court documents obtained by 9NEWS.

The document says the call taker noted the caller stopped responding and sounded like they were running. 

A second 911 caller said he was being followed and that two of his friends had been shot, the court documents say. That caller was running and said he needed an ambulance. A third caller said they had been shot at.

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The 911 call taker noted that GPS tracking put all three callers in the area near South Quebec Street and East Union Avenue.

Officers responded there and located the victims. Among them was Reynolds, who, according to court documents, was shot twice, once in his left arm and once in the back of his head. Another man was shot in his back. A third victim was wounded by shattered glass, the court documents say. All three had scrapes from climbing over a fence, the documents say.

Police later located the victims’ vehicle on southbound Interstate 25 near Belleview Avenue. It had numerous bullet defects in the back driver-side and front windshield. Two fired cartridge casings were found behind the vehicle along I-25.

Prior to the shooting, the victims reported they were at Shotgun Willies, a strip clup in Glendale, but left around 2:45 a.m. They reported, according to court documents, there were no problems in the club.

When they left, two drivers began following them in vehicles and shots were fired, the court documents say. They reported to police that the suspects continued to follow them as they got onto the highway. Once there, they said the vehicle would no longer drive and they ran from the vehicle.

On Wednesday, Denver Police announced they arrested two men in the case, Burr Charlesworth and Luis Mendoza.

According to court documents, a video from the strip club shows Mendoza entering the club just after midnight. The documents say Mendoza did not engage with the entertainers but instead watched the victims. As they left, Mendoza followed them out, the documents say.

Several other vehicles were seen pulling into the lot and people inside them appeared to be waiting for the victim to leave, according to the documents. Three vehicles were seen following the victims, the documents show.

In most of the videos reviewed by investigators, Mendoza’s vehicle was directly behind the victims.

Following his arrest, Charlesworth told investigators he was “helping” a friend who had asked him to follow the victims due to a prior conflict.  He denied he ever shot at the victims and said the gunfire came from the other vehicles. He refused to describe those vehicles, according to the court documents.

Reynolds is currently on injured reserve due to a broken finger and did not travel to New Orleans with the Broncos for their game last Thursday.

“Josh Reynolds was a victim of a shooting on Friday in Denver and received treatment for minor injuries,” the Broncos said in a statement to 9NEWS Thursday. “Out of respect for the legal process, we will defer further comment on this matter to the authorities.”