The shooting took place in an area near a planned police support gathering and counter-protest, Denver Police Media Officer Anna Munoz told CNN by phone Saturday night.
“The private security guard was hired by Pinkerton by 9NEWS. 9NEWS has been in practice for a number of months to employ private security to accompany employees at protests,” KUSA reported. “DPD originally arrested two people, and later found that the second person, 9NEWS producer who works for the investigation unit, was not involved in the accident. The producer is no longer in police custody and is not a suspect.”
Investigations chief Joe Montoya said during a press conference on Saturday that officers at the scene provided assistance to the victim, who was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Montoya said he could not comment on whether Denver TV was involved in the shooting when asked during the press conference.
Montoya said police were interviewing a witness and reviewing a video of the shooting.
Initially, Denver Police tweeted two people who had been detained as a result of the shooting, but only one person was taken into custody, according to Montoya.
Montoya said the shooting occurred at around 3:37 PM GMT (5:37 PM ET) near the Civic Center Park as the protest ended.
Montoya said an altercation took place before the shooting, and two rifles and a mace were found at the scene.