Denver police officer, a single mom, shot at family jazz concert in City Park

A Denver police officer and single mom was shot and killed Sunday trying to break up a fight during a jazz concert attended by hundreds of families.

According to Fox 31, gunfire erupted shortly after the band finished playing next to a pond at the City Park Jazz concert. Other news media reported that only three shots were heard.

The officer, 32, was shot in the head, the Associated Press cited police spokesman Sonny Jackson as saying. She had been on the force for seven years, Fox reported.

The Denver Post reported that one person has been taken into custody on a weapons-related charge.

Denver Police Chief Robert White told a late-night press conference Sunday that police were not yet sure whether the person in custody was involved in the shooting. 

Sunday's concert was the fourth of 10 free shows scheduled in the annual series staged in City Park, which sprawls across several hundred acres of ponds, trails and recreational fields east of downtown. 

Denver Zoo and Museum of Nature and Science are also housed there.

The shots reportedly sent waves of people running through park grounds, although others remained seated on picnic blankets and lawn chairs, apparently unaware of the cause of the panic.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who according to the KUSA news station attended the concert with his family, said late Sunday that he knew the officer.

"She was a very dedicated officer and a tremendous leader," Hancock said according to Fox.

"This is a great loss for our city and a senseless crime. This was a single mother with a beautiful child. We will put our arms around this child and this family and make sure they know there’s a city who absolutely loves them."

Hancock said the concerts should continue.

"We will not surrender what we consider special in this city to anyone," he said.

More from GlobalPost: Anonymous, joining Wikileaks, hacks into the big time