Denver police are trying to determine a motive behind a series of stabbings in which they say a 24-year-old man randomly attacked four people near the 16th Street Mall over the weekend, killing two of them.
After spotting him running downtown with a large butcher-style knife in his hand Sunday night, officers arrested Elijah Caudill on Sunday on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder, including an at-risk elder, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder, the Denver police department said Monday.
Caudill’s violent rampage included three stabbings in the span of 42 minutes Saturday, and then a fourth victim Sunday, police said. All stabbings occurred within a few city blocks.
A man and a woman were killed, another man was brought to the hospital with injuries that were not life threatening and a fourth man was brought to the hospital with serious injuries, but is expected to survive, the department said.
Police say Caudill stabbed the first person — slashing him in the face — at about 5:12 p.m. Saturday near 16th Street and Tremont Place, before fatally stabbing a woman in her throat five minutes later three blocks away at 16th and California streets. At about 5:54 p.m. police say he stabbed a man in the arm and torso at 16th and Lawrence streets.
On Sunday, at about 8:06 p.m., police say Caudill stabbed a fourth person at 16th and Wynkoop streets.
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One of the victims was identified as Celinda Levno, a Phoenix-based flight attendant who was in Denver on a layover when she was killed, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said in a statement.
American Airlines, which employed Levno for the past 36 years, called the attack “senseless,” in a statement Sunday night.
Denver’s medical examiner on Wednesday identified Nicholas Burkett, 34, as the second person killed in the attacks.
Investigators are still trying to determine what drove the attacks. There does not seem to be a connection between Caudill and the victims, according to police.
Caudill was arrested shortly before police learned of the fourth victim.
During a news conference Monday evening, Mayor Mike Johnston said the city is heartbroken for the victims killed in the “isolated, exceedingly rare incident.”
“I’ll say we know that there is work to do,” he said. “We also know that downtown Denver is getting more vibrant and more safe every day.”
Johnston cited last year’s decrease in homicides — the largest decline in the city in more than a decade — a 23% decline in shootings and 55% drop in drug-related offenses downtown.
“So we see that all of those are heading in the right direction,” the mayor said. “And yet, we also know that no amount of crime is acceptable and we will keep pushing to make improvements every day.”
Caudill, a Colorado native, had a criminal history prior to the weekend’s attacks and was last released from jail in November, Johnston said.
He also served an 11-month sentence in state prison for a felony conviction and was released in 2023, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said.
Thomas said officers assigned in and around the 16th Street Mall patrol the area by foot, bike, motorcycles and vehicles. The department is also adding security to the area “to make sure we have a secure blanket of safety in the area.”
The department also has cameras installed throughout downtown that connect to a real-time crime center, allowing officers to monitor crime, he said.
“I think the numbers speak for themselves as to the work that’s been done down here to create such a safe environment down here,” Thomas said.
“Certainly, I think it’s always best to be accompanied when you’re downtown and to be aware of your surroundings, I think that’s always a good practice, but I do think that this is a safe place.”