Fifth victim dies in Denver shooting rampage; gunman identified

A hotel clerk gravely wounded in a Denver-area shooting spree died on Tuesday, bringing to five the number of people killed in Monday night's rampage by a gunman, who was slain by police, authorities said.

Police in Denver and the suburb of Lakewood announced the latest death at a news briefing a day after the rampage, which spanned both municipalities and two tattoo shops.

Police identified the gunman as 47-year-old Lyndon James McLeod. They did not offer a possible motive and provided few details about McLeod, except to say that all of the dead but one, the hotel clerk, were known to him. McLeod's ties to the victims were not explained.

McLeod died following an exchange of gunfire with a Lakewood police officer who, despite taking a bullet to the abdomen, was able to fire her weapon, fatally striking the gunman, police said.

Lakewood police spokesman John Romero declined to name the officer, a three-year veteran, but called her actions "heroic."

"She took a situation that was horrendous and put herself in harm's way to stop it," Romero said, adding that she underwent surgery and would survive.