Memorial service for Lakewood Police Agent Nicholas Graham killed in RTD shooting
A public memorial for Agent Nicholas Graham, shot dead on duty on 5 November, will be held Thursday at BRAVE Church in Englewood, Colorado.
Lakewood officer killed in line of duty to be honoured at Englewood church
A memorial service for Lakewood Police Agent Nicholas Graham will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at BRAVE Church in Englewood, the Colorado Fallen Hero Foundation (CFHF) has announced. Graham, 33, was shot and killed on 5 November while confronting a suspicious man boarding an RTD bus at Colfax and Wadsworth.
According to denver7.com, sources have identified the suspect as 34-year-old Gabriel Garcia. Three other Lakewood Police agents and a bystander were wounded in the shooting; all four have since been discharged from hospital.
The CFHF is coordinating the funeral arrangements. Jared Rowlison, vice president of CFHF and undersheriff of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, described the fallen officer as someone colleagues valued deeply. "What we've heard from the Lakewood Police Department is that Agent Graham was dedicated to the community and was somebody that people loved working with," Rowlison said.
Graham's death marks the 14th line-of-duty death CFHF has responded to in Colorado since the foundation was established in 2016. Steve Redfearn, CFHF president and Boulder police chief, said the organisation had gone nearly two years without having to respond to such a loss. "It's a somber reminder for us the risks of this job… we're very devastated that this day happened and our team had to deploy," Redfearn said.
Street closures along the procession route begin at 7:30 a.m. Thursday and will remain in effect until the service concludes. East Hampden Avenue (U.S. 285) will be closed between BRAVE Church and First Plymouth Church UCC. The procession will pass through what CFHF describes as "a blue tunnel of public safety vehicles" before turning onto Colorado Boulevard and into the church car park. The tunnel will run along East Hampden Avenue from Downing to Monroe, with eastbound lanes closed from Downing to Colorado Boulevard. Members of the public wishing to pay their respects along the route are asked to park at the Englewood Civic Center complex and cross at Inca Street.
Questions remain over the circumstances that placed Garcia at large. Broomfield Police arrested him on 28 September following a separate hit-and-run investigation, at which point he held an outstanding parole warrant. Colorado Parole officials nonetheless authorised his release, and Garcia was freed on 20 October — less than three weeks before the fatal shooting. Broomfield Police confirmed the sequence of events through a departmental spokesperson.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)