Brenda Lee Martinez, a 37-year-old female, was fatally shot on August 11, 2018, in Thornton, Colorado, at the Extra Point Bar and Grill on East 100th Avenue where she was working as a bartender. The incident also resulted in three other people being wounded. The events leading to the tragic shooting began after a patron, Gary Lynn Wideman, 38, was ejected from the establishment following a brawl.
After being removed from the bar, Wideman retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and returned, opening fire into the kitchen area. Surveillance footage captured the moment he fired multiple shots, causing chaos as customers sought cover under tables and chairs or fled the scene. Martinez was struck and killed during the indiscriminate shooting. Prosecutors asserted that Wideman's actions were not in self-defense, as his family had already left the premises when he came back with the weapon, indicating his intent was confrontation.
Gary Lynn Wideman was arrested in connection with the shooting. In November 2019, an Adams County jury convicted him of first-degree murder with extreme indifference, five counts of attempted first-degree murder, and three counts of first-degree assault. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 100 years.
