At least nine wounded in Denver mass shooting after Nuggets win NBA Finals

Injured suspect also taken to hospital as police launch 'expansive' investigation

Denver Police Department investigators work the scene of a mass shooting following the Nuggets' first NBA Championship win. AP

At least nine people were wounded in a mass shooting early on Tuesday in Denver, in an area where basketball fans had been celebrating the Nuggets' first NBA title win, police said.

A suspect has been taken into custody.

The shooting happened at about 12.30am – roughly three and a half hours after the game – and three of the injured were in a critical condition, the Denver Police Department said in a statement.

The suspect, a man, was one of the seven people who suffered injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.

The shooting happened about 1.5 kilometres from Ball Arena, where the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat on Monday night.

“As far as what led up to this altercation that resulted in the shots being fired, that’s still under investigation at this time,” police spokesman Doug Schepman said.

“It did occur in the area where we had largest gathering of folks celebrating during the night.”

The area was taped off and evidence markers were at the scene.

A small crowd was in the area at the time of the shooting, he said, but had “diminished quite a bit at that point”.

He added that the shooting was in an area where a lot of people might have come out of bars after the game.

Police were interviewing witnesses and Mr Schepman described the continuing investigation “expansive”.