Tattoo Artist Alicia Cardenas Among Victims of Denver Shooting

After a lone gunman opened fire in Sol Tribe Custom Tattoo and Body Piercing on 1st and Broadway, Alicia Cardenas fell  victim to the shooting. Five other people fell victim as well in a spree that took place within the Denver and Lakewood area, according to Denverite.

Those among the victims are Danny Scofield, Sarah Steck, Alicia Cardenas, Michael Swinyard, and Alyssa Gunn-Maldonado.

The shooter is known to have a history with more than one of the victims in recent years according to Lakewood Police, who refused to elaborate. A responding officer shot and killed Mcleod.

Cardenas is survived by a 12-year-old child.

Cardenas was an irreplaceable entity in the world of body art, and the impact will be felt across The City. The 90’s saw her working on tattoos while managing bloodborn pathogens. Culturally sensitive geometry and social messages were the focus of her work.

Cardenas collaborated with Babe Walls and Crush walls, a women and nonbinary street fest where she painted a mural calling out the patriarchy implemented in the mural scene.

“She was someone who taught and mentored so many artists in this town and a lover of art and a supporter of people living in their creative self-expression,” said Jeff Campbell, artist and activist who stood beside Alicia. “She was a powerful healer and was a person you can rely on to hold you accountable. Definitely, you know, lovingly tell the truth when things were not in alignment. She was as authentic as it can be.”

Alyssa Gunn-Maldonado shared Cardenas’s fate in the same shop, being fatally shot by Mcleod as well.

“It’s hard for me to believe somebody would want to hurt people that really are needed in this world right now. People that are of genuine love and care for more than just themselves. It hurts to have that taken away. We’re already living with so much ugliness,” says Ernesto Burbank, close friend to Alyssa and her husband Jimmy.

Friends of Scofield mourn his loss after hearing of his fate at the Lucky 13, “He was literally the nicest person on this planet. Never did wrong to anybody. Nobody,” says Annie Bagford, who knew Scofield since high school.

“We were watching football, laughing, talking about some things. We were there two or three hours,” says Lawrence, friend to shooting victim Michael Swinyard. “He said, ‘I gotta get going because Lana’s sick, and I need to pick up some food and go home.’ I said, ‘I’ll see you later.’ I figured I would talk to him Christmas Day or today.”

After murdering others in Denver, Mcleod entered the Hyatt House Hotel in Belmar and shot Steck. Steck appeared to be the only one with no history with the shooter.

Mcleod was shot and killed by police at the hotel after attempting to flee.