Broncos wide receiver Josh Reynolds was wounded in a shooting last week in Denver, the team confirmed Thursday, and two men have been arrested on charges of attempted murder.
Reynolds and another man were injured in the early morning shooting on Oct. 18 after they were followed from a strip club, according to reporting by 9News.
“Josh Reynolds was a victim of a shooting on Friday in Denver and received treatment for minor injuries,” the Broncos said in a statement. “Out of respect for the legal process, we will defer further comment on this matter to the authorities.”
A 911 caller told dispatchers at about 3 a.m. that he had been shot while he was driving a blue Ford Bronco near East Hampden Avenue and South Dahlia Street, according to the news station, which said it had obtained court documents in the case.
Two other people also called 911 to report the shooting. The dispatcher noted that GPS data placed all three callers in the area of South Quebec Street and East Union Avenue.
Officers went there and found all three victims. Reynolds was shot twice, in the left arm and the back of the head, and another man was shot in the back, according to 9News. A third victim was wounded by shattered glass, and all three of them were scraped from climbing over a fence.
Officers later found the Bronco parked on southbound Interstate 25 near Belleview Avenue with several bullet marks in the back driver-side and front windshield. Two spent casings also were found behind the Bronco on I-25, the news station’s article states.
Reynolds and the other victims told police they had left Shotgun Willies, a Glendale strip club, about 2:45 a.m. after an uneventful visit, but that two drivers began following them in vehicles and shooting at them, according to 9News. They said the vehicles kept following them as they got on Interstate 25. Then the vehicle stopped running and they ran from it.
Earlier Wednesday, police announced they had arrested two people on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting.
Burr Charlesworth, 42, and Luis Mendoza, 35, were both arrested on investigation of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault after allegedly shooting two men Friday on southbound I-25, according to a news release from the Denver Police Department.
Denver police shut the interstate down for multiple hours Monday to investigate the shooting and are working to identify more suspects, according to the release.
The Denver Post was unable to independently obtain court documents in the case.
Reynolds, 29, is in his first season with the Broncos and is currently not playing because of a finger injury.
Reynolds signed a two-year contract worth up to $14 million with the Broncos this spring. He played extensively during the early part of the season but fractured a finger while catching a touchdown in Denver’s Week 5 win over Las Vegas earlier this month.
That injury required a minor surgery, which landed Reynolds on injured reserve, meaning he had to miss at least four games. Because he was not eligible to play, he did not travel with Denver to New Orleans for the team’s 33-10 win last Thursday night.
Reynolds has been at the Broncos facility each of the past two days doing conditioning work on a side field while the team conducts practice, which is typical of players recovering from injury.
As of Thursday morning, neither Charlesworth nor Mendoza had court dates scheduled, according to court records.
Mendoza is being held in Denver’s Downtown Detention Center on a $300,000 bail, but Charlesworth did not appear in Denver jail records.
Mendoza pleaded guilty in 2015 in Denver District Court to possessing a weapon on school grounds and in 2007 to vehicular eluding. In 2010 in Adams County District Court, he pleaded guilty to providing false information to a pawnbroker.
Charlesworth pleaded guilty in 2008 in Boulder County District Court to marijuana distribution, and in 2005 in Adams County District Court to reckless vehicular assault and driving under the influence.