The four Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation sent a letter Thursday to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice seeking an investigation into whether Denver police adequately investigated Lyndon McLeod prior to his December shooting spree.

“We request your office conduct an investigation into whether law enforcement agencies were aware of the severity of the threats from the gunman, the actions taken in response to these threats including the closure of investigations, and whether information sharing among agencies was adequate,” said the letter signed by U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter, Jason Crow, Diana DeGette and Joe Neguse. “We have serious concerns regarding the sharing of information and the response of law enforcement officials and whether it was adequate, timely and thorough.”

McLeod, 47, shot and killed five people and injured two others during an hour-long killing spree on Dec. 27 between Denver and Lakewood. Denver police received a warning about a year ago about McLeod and a series of novels he self-published leading up to the attacks. He wrote about two of the victims he would later kill last month.

Denver police Chief Paul Pazen previously said that McLeod had been the subject of two law enforcement investigations: one in 2020 and one in early 2021. Local FBI officials have failed to release any information about what they knew about McLeod prior to the killings.

In Thursday’s letter to Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, the delegation briefly outlined the shooting spree before zeroing in on news coverage of acts by McLeod, including using the names of people he intended to target in the self-published books. The letter states:

• It was also reported the gunman was on the radar of federal law enforcement for previous expressions of extremist views and a history of violent episodes.
• Additionally, the Denver Police Department investigated the gunman in 2020 and early 2021, but concluded there was not enough evidence to file charges.
• We have serious concerns regarding the sharing of information and the response of law enforcement officials and whether it was adequate, timely and thorough.

“It is critical we understand who knew what information and when, and how this information was shared and acted upon in order to identify and close any gaps in the information sharing process among law enforcement,” the letter said. “Thank you for your attention to this matter and we look forward to your prompt response.”

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