A 47-year-old man was fatally shot and three teenagers suffered gunshot wounds Monday night at Santa Rita Park in Durango.

The shooting was reported shortly after 9:30 p.m., according to the Durango Police Department.

Within a half-hour of the shooting, law enforcement had arrested three suspects, including a 19-year-old man and two 17-year-old boys.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the foot, and two 17-year-old boys were also shot.

One of the 17-year-old boys was in stable condition and the other is in critical condition as of Tuesday, said Durango Chief of Police Bob Brammer.

The 47-year-old man was taken to Mercy Hospital, but it was not immediately known if he died on scene or at the hospital.

The shooting was apparently the culmination of an earlier altercation involving a couple of those involved, Brammer said.

“This was a conflict between these two groups that’s been boiling over for the last couple of days, maybe for a week or so,” Brammer said.

He said it is too early to say whether it amounted to gang violence.

Among the teenagers involved, including those who were shot and the suspects, they attended GOAL High School, Big Picture High School and Durango High School, Brammer said. They were from Ignacio and Durango, he said.

At least four witnesses on scene at the time of the shooting were not injured, Brammer said.

Police were notified of the shooting at 9:33 p.m. By 9:56 p.m., police had located the suspects’ vehicle driving erratically and at a high rate of speed on South Camino del Rio near Home Depot.

“It was just great interagency cooperation between us and the (La Plata County) sheriff's department,” Brammer said. “ … Fortunately the vehicle complied with the stop and no further incident occurred.”

Police said three guns were involved. Police believe they have recovered all three guns, but they were awaiting search warrants before going through the vehicles belonging to the suspects and the victims.

“It’s not like we have a gun that's in a river or out in the park somewhere,” Brammer said.

It was not immediately known how many of the suspects were involved in firing guns, he said.

Investigators worked throughout the night interviewing suspects and witnesses.

“We think we (have) a pretty good idea of what occurred,” Brammer said. “Now we just need the physical evidence in order to back that up and validate those statements.”

He asked that anyone with additional information about the shooting or the argument that led up to the shooting to contact Durango police detectives at 375-4730.

Brammer said a shooting of this magnitude, involving three suspects and four people being shot, is highly unusual for Durango.

“This is of great concern to us,” he said. “ … It's tragic. It's violent.”

He thanked participating agencies for their assistance, including Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Sheriff’s Office, Mercy Hospital, Durango-La Plata Communication Center, San Juan Regional Medical Center, Farmington Police Department and Durango Fire Protection District.“

“We want to offer our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims because of this tragic event,” Brammer said in a news release.”

shane@durangoherald.com