Shooting at 4/20 Pro-Pot Rally Injures 3

Denver event saw record crowds, police were concerned about security
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 21, 2013 6:23 AM CDT

A pro-pot rally celebrating unofficial 'Weed Day' 4/20 turned violent yesterday when shots rang out at the Denver event, injuring three. "It was peaceful; everybody was having fun," says one witness—and the air was thick with marijuana smoke. The gunfire started around 5pm, 40 minutes after the tens of thousands of people at the Civic Center exhaled a huge cloud of marijuana smoke at 4:20pm. There were as many as 10 shots, leaving two people with non-life-threatening leg injuries and one juvenile grazed by a bullet, the Denver Post reports. Police are looking for two suspects.

Organizers had expected record crowds, considering this was the first of the annual 4/20 rallies to be held since Colorado legalized marijuana. And, in light of the Boston Marathon bombing, police were already concerned about security and planning to be out in full force, the AP reports. "Our message to the public is that, if you see something, say something," said a police spokesperson prior to the event. A second rally scheduled for today has been canceled. Police don't yet know the motive for the shooting. (More Denver stories.)

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