Lakewood Officer Killed, Three Officers and Bystander Wounded in Bus Shootout
A Lakewood police officer was killed and three officers and a bystander were wounded in a shootout aboard an RTD bus near Wadsworth Boulevard and West Colfax Avenue. Police said officers were trying to apprehend a man suspected in a hit-and-run when he opened fire; officers returned fire, killing him.
A Lakewood Police Department officer was killed Thursday evening in a shootout aboard a Regional Transportation District bus in Lakewood, Colorado, as officers tried to apprehend a man suspected in a hit-and-run. Three other officers and a bystander were wounded, and the suspect was killed.
The gunfire erupted at a busy intersection. The wounded officers suffered serious injuries.
Lakewood police spokesman John Romero said the incident began when an officer spotted a man matching the description of a driver who had fled an earlier crash. Witnesses had given police a detailed description of the driver, Romero said.
The officer called for backup. Police then saw the man board a northbound RTD bus near West Colfax Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard and got on the bus, Romero said.
The suspect turned and fired at officers at 6:32 p.m., Romero said. Officers returned fire, killing him.
The officer who died was Agent Nicholas Graham, a 33-year-old member of the department for seven years. Lakewood Police Chief Philip Smith remembered him as a “dependable teammate” who upheld high standards of professionalism.
“From his earliest days on patrol to his work investigating major crimes, he distinguished himself through his dedication, his compassion and his willingness to help others,” Smith said at a news conference Friday.
Two of the wounded officers were released from the hospital Friday, Romero said. A third remained hospitalized and was recovering. The extent of the bystander’s injuries was unclear.
Police and Jefferson County Coroner Annette Cannon had not publicly named the suspect as of Friday. Authorities identified him as Gabriel Steven Garcia, a 34-year-old parolee with a criminal history that included a 2017 felony conviction for assaulting a police officer.
The confrontation followed a hit-and-run about three hours earlier near West 13th Avenue and Kipling Street, Romero said. The driver ran from that crash before the officer later spotted him.
Arianna McKibbin, who witnessed the shooting while stopped at a red light with her grandmother, said police vehicles approached the bus after turning on their lights. The bus was serving Route 76.
“We heard gunfire go off,” McKibbin said. She said they waited through two traffic-light cycles as police vehicles passed before her grandmother could drive away.
“I’m just scared from it,” McKibbin said. “I never witnessed any gunshots before, so it was kind of out of the blue.”
Another witness, Teddy O’Brien, said several police cruisers surrounded the bus before officers boarded with guns and flashlights drawn. “They hopped on and then shots instantly started ringing from there,” he said.
