Cab Driver Shot To Death In Pueblo
PUEBLO – After two murders in just six hours, Pueblo Police are busy with two homicide investigations Tuesday. Crime scene investigators remained on the scene of the second shooting for much of the morning Tuesday. Investigators say they identified some footprints in the area near the 1500 block of East 11thStreet and continue to gather other evidence. Police say witnesses saw two men fleeing the scene of the shooting. It happened just after 1:30 Tuesday morning. Police were called to the scene near East 11thStreet and Norwood after someone reported hearing gunshots. Officers found a man dead inside a taxicab. Police say the victim, 51-year old David A. Chance, worked for a local cab company and suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
Police will not comment on whether Chance was robbed. Unfortunately, residents in the area say crime is becoming more common. Bertha Ortiz has lived on the street for 12 years. She says the gunshot woke her up, though she wasn’t sure at first what the loud pop was. “I used to think it was safe and now I’m beginning to wonder,” Ortiz says, “I told my girls, ‘so much for this quiet neighborhood.'” Another resident who did not want to go on camera says he wants to see a police substation in the neighborhood and says it’s scary to see things like Tuesday’s shooting going on so close to his home. Police have not yet released any specific suspect information. The department called in some extra officers to help as they work on two homicide investigations.
A witness who reported the death to police didn’t want to talk on camera because of the belief that this could be gang related. Police haven’t been able to determine that but they say it would be even more of an incentive for the public to help them in this investigation.
“If they link it to gang activity they’re best alternative is to assist us with our investigation so that we’re able to put these people in jail that way they’re not active on the street,” says Sergeant Elias Manzaneras of the Pueblo Police Department.
Police believe the victimdrove the suspects to 11th Street from the south end of town. A man who on 11th says the address the cab driver was told to go to was 1525 East 11th Street but police did not confirm that.
Chance worked for City Cab in Pueblo. A manager there on Tuesday said he was married with two children. He adds that a memorial fund has been set up for his family at U.S. Banks in Pueblo. The account number is 103677380695.
