Boy, 12, Is Fatally Shot by Owner of Stolen Car in Denver, Police Say

The owner of a stolen car fatally shot a 12-year-old boy in Denver after he found the child and others inside the vehicle, which he had tracked down using an app, the police said.

The man found the car on Sunday, approached the stopped vehicle and was “involved in an exchange of gunfire” with the people inside the car, the Denver Police Department said in a statement.

The 12-year-old then drove the car about two blocks, and was later found by police officers with a gunshot wound. It was not clear if the boy had been driving the car before the shooting. He was taken to Denver Health Medical Center and later pronounced dead, the police said.

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner identified the boy as Elias Armstrong. He died from a gunshot wound, the medical examiner said. His relatives could not be reached on Saturday.

The police said that they had “contacted” the owner of the stolen car at the scene and that he had not been arrested. The police did not identify the owner of the car. It was unclear under what circumstances the car was stolen, what led up to the gunfire and what app the owner used to track the car’s whereabouts.

“At this stage of the ongoing investigation, the vehicle’s owner has not been arrested, and per standard protocol, the D.A.’s Office will ultimately make the determination regarding possible charges,” the police said in an emailed statement on Saturday.

There had been other people in the car with the boy when the owner approached, the police said, but they fled on foot before officers found the car. As of Saturday afternoon, the police had not located the other people.

Jamie Torres, a Denver city councilwoman, said she was “heartbroken” that the boy had died, the television news station KUSA reported.

“I know auto theft is a growing issue, not just in Denver but everywhere, and it’s infuriating to be victimized like that,” Ms. Torres said. “But I discourage any resident to taking a vigilante approach.”

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for American children.

Most researchers emphasize that the increased availability of guns — especially handguns — has most likely played a role in guns overtaking disease and motor vehicle accidents as the most common way for children to die.

In 2021, the child death rate from guns was the highest it has been in more than 20 years, according to provisional statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That year, 3,597 children died by gunfire and nearly two-thirds of those deaths — 2,279 — were homicides.

The United States is an extreme outlier when it comes to gun deaths among children.