Colorado Bus Shootout Kills One Lakewood Officer, Wounds Three; Gunman Shot Dead
The police department in Lakewood, a city in Jefferson County, Colorado, on Friday identified the officer killed in a shootout aboard a public bus the previous evening as Nic Graham, 33, the Associated Press reported. The gunfight left Graham dead, three other officers wounded and a bystander injured; the gunman was shot dead by officers at the scene.
Police said officers first responded shortly before 3:45 p.m. on November 5 to a hit-and-run near Kipling Street and West 13th Avenue. At about 6:30 p.m., officers spotted a man matching the description near West Colfax Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard as he tried to board a Regional Transportation District (RTD) Route 76 bus. When officers boarded the bus, the man opened fire, striking four officers. Graham died of his injuries; the three other officers were taken to area hospitals, and one remained hospitalized on Friday. A bystander was also injured. The suspect was killed by return fire at the scene.
Graham joined the Lakewood Police Department in 2019 and came from a police family: his father recently retired from police work and his mother worked in a crime lab. He became a field training agent in 2023 and received a department award that year for gang intelligence work and investigative support. He later joined the investigations division, where he handled 322 major-crime cases, the largest caseload on the team. "His accomplishments tell us what he did. The gratitude of those he helped tells us how much his service mattered," Police Chief Philip Smith said at a news conference on Friday. The department described Graham as a loving husband and father to a 1-year-old child.
Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom said in a statement that the shooting was a tragedy for the families, friends and colleagues of all the agents involved. RTD said it was deeply concerned by the shooting. The officer-involved shooting is being investigated by the First Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team, with support from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Police said the suspect's identity would be released after his next of kin are notified. The Lakewood department, initially modeled after the FBI, refers to its officers as agents.
(Source: Lakewood Police Department)
Source: Lakewood Police Department
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 丹佛地区交通署（RTD）巴士在 Denver 市区行驶（资料图，非事发车辆）。图：RTD 官方发布
