Former Broncos WR Josh Reynolds was victim of mistaken identity in 2024 Denver shooting incident

The suspects thought Reynolds and their friends conned them in a drug deal

In October 2024, then Denver Broncos wide receiver Josh Reynolds and two friends were shot after leaving a local strip club. According to The Denver Post, the incident was a case of mistaken identity as the perpetrators believed Reynolds and his friends to be the same people who used counterfeit money to purchase $250,000 worth of cocaine.Unsealed court documents show that up to 12 conspirators surveilled, pursued and shot at Reynolds and his friends in the early morning hours of Oct. 18, 2024. Reynolds was shot in the left arm and the back of the head, but he didn’t suffer any major injuries.

The suspects followed Reynolds and his friends when they left a strip club at 2:45 a.m., and they fired on the friends as they drove toward the highway. The shooting continued on the highway until Reynolds and the two other victims were forced to leave their vehicle because it would no longer drive.

According to police, the suspects thought that Reynolds and his friends were the same people that had used fake money to con them in a cocaine deal, but the trio was not involved at all. One day before the shooting, cleaning staff found $37,000 in “movie currency” and white powder in a Denver-area Best Western hotel room.

While it’s not been confirmed whether that was the fraudulent transaction in question, prosecutors say at least two people from that Best Western drug deal were involved in the shooting of Reynolds and his friends.

Burr Charlesworth, who drove one of the vehicles that pursued Reynolds and his friends, was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday. Charlesworth was one of eight people charged in the shooting, and one more person remains at large.

Last December, less than two months after the shooting, Reynolds was waived by the Broncos before getting claimed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Reynolds, now in his ninth NFL season, signed a one-year contract with the New York Jets in March.