A Lakewood, Colorado police officer is dead and three more are wounded after a suspect opened fire on them near a public bus Thursday evening — the kind of routine call officers answer every day that the politicians and activists who demonize law enforcement refuse to credit.
Lakewood police said officers responded to a report of a suspicious person near the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard around 6:30 p.m. The suspect was attempting to board a Regional Transportation District bus when officers approached. Within seconds, he opened fire, striking four of them. One officer was pronounced dead. A civilian was also injured and transported to a local hospital.
The suspect was shot by police and pronounced dead at the scene, according to Lakewood Police Public Information Officer John Romero.
"We just want the family to know that we love them, that we're here for them, and Lakewood Police Department is a family, and we will be here for each other," Romero said during a news conference.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis released a statement calling the fallen officer's death "heartbreaking" and thanking law enforcement who "run into danger to keep us safe and protect our communities." The same governor has presided over a state where progressive prosecutors and soft-on-crime policies have become the norm — policies that ensure suspects with records stay on the street long enough to ambush cops at bus stops.
The Jefferson County Critical Incident Response Team is leading the investigation, with support from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Of the three outlets provided for this story, only the New York Post covered the Lakewood shooting. CBS News ran a story about an unresponsive man found behind a business in Vacaville, California — no officer involved, no public stakes. FOX 4 News covered a shooting and car crash near a DART station in Dallas. The Colorado ambush, where an officer died protecting civilians at a transit stop, apparently didn't merit blanket coverage from the broader press corps.
An officer ran toward a suspicious person at a public bus to protect the citizens riding it. He didn't come home. Three of his colleagues are in the hospital. The civilian hurt in the crossfire was a member of the public those officers serve. This is the bargain law enforcement makes with the public every shift — and it is the one the anti-police establishment takes for granted.
Where are the press conferences from the defund-the-police crowd when the officers they vilify are the ones taking the bullets?
