Jul 20, 2026
Less than 24 hours after a deadly shooting, James Murphy and members of the Struggle of Love Foundation comb through the parking lot of Ultra Lounge East bar and restaurant.Earlier in the day, Denver Police say gunfire erupted o utside the nightclub, killing one man and injuring eight other people.Murphy and the rest of the team were picking up trash and handing out flyers promoting their violence prevention organization to nearby community members. Small actions that Murphy said could have a huge impact."We consider it a secondary violence prevention," He said. "It may not seem like a big deal, but we want you guys back here and outside and having fun. We want to let you guys know it's still safe to come outside."The organization is made up of people with lived experience with gun violence. Many came from the communities they're trying to help.Their new campaign, "Make it Home Safe," focuses on , which is what brought the group to the scene of the shooting."It's been a big problem in our community, us wanting to go out, have a good time, [and] enjoy ourselves without being able to go home and get that phone call from a loved one not making it home," Murphy said. Watch Alex Dowd's report in the video below: 1 dead, 8 injured in shooting at southeast Denver nightclubWhile Denver Police say they're still investigating the shooting, Chief Ron Thomas said in a Monday morning press conference that police believe two groups of people were involved."I think that they were engaging with each other, and so [it was] targeted in that sense, but not targeted in the sense that the people came here with the intent to shoot someone," Thomas said. "We don't know. I mean, obviously, we're going to have to dig into their histories to see if there's any gang involvement or gang ties. We don't believe that this is necessarily a gang-motivated event, though."A representative from the Struggle of Love Foundation spent the day meeting with community members and the owners of Ultra Lounge East, a meeting Murphy said ended with an agreement to hold a community dialogue."We need to be a little more empathetic to whoever is going through that problem," he said. "Then we also need to kind of teach them how to work on that reaction. The reaction is our biggest problem that we have today."He also encouraged community members to talk to someoneeither a friend, professional or the Struggle of Love Foundation if they're struggling with conflicts or mental health concerns.While some are working to improve communication and make the nightlife scene safer in the area, other neighbors are fed up with clubs altogether."It's common for us, unfortunately, in this area to see problems with nightclubs specifically," Rita Tsalyuk said. Tsalyuk owns an apartment complex a block away from Ultra Lounge. She said she regularly has to call policeand has for yearsabout nightclub activity near her building."There was one nightclub [next door], and the whole parking lot would be filled with people who were doing drugs, drinking alcohol, having sex in the parking lot," she said.While that club is no longer operating, Denver7 heard concerns from neighbors about it last year.To Tsalyuk, the solution is simple."I think [police] should not allow nightclubs to have people in a parking lot that's over capacity, and they can just enforce existing rules," she said. "They don't need new laws; they need to enforce existing ones, and they need to take a quick lead on, like, a really tight lead on low-level crimes."The Denver Police Department is working with city and community violence-prevention groupssuch as the Struggle of Love Foundationto prevent retaliatory attacks. Something a DPD spokesperson says is done regardless of whether a shooting is gang-related or not.Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.Those concerned about gun violence in their communities can contact the Struggle of Love Foundation or check out programs from Colorado Ceasefire. ...read more read less
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