LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — The Lakewood police officer who was shot by a gunman during a shooting spree Monday night is in stable condition after one surgery, Lakewood Police Public Information Officer John Romero said in a news conference Tuesday.
Romero said she will need more surgeries but is expected to survive.
The gunman, Lyndon McLeod opened fire at the Lakewood officer when she ordered him to drop his weapon around West Alaska Drive and South Vance Street. She was struck in the abdomen but was wearing a bulletproof vest. She returned fire, striking and killing McLeod.
“I cannot emphasize enough how heroic this Lakewood agent is. She took a situation that was already horrendous and put herself in harm’s way to stop it before it got even worse,” Romero said. “We’re beyond proud of her actions and the lives she likely saved because of her acts last night.”
One witness told FOX31 they saw the interaction between the Lakewood officer and the gunman and they were lucky to have moved or else they would have been shot.
“We seen (sic) the lady officer just yelled, ‘Put your gun down. Put your gun away!’ And we just seen the suspect pull his gun out and, literally, shoot her, in front of us and she was on the floor, she was on the ground,” one witness told FOX31. “He turned and he kept shooting, almost shooting toward us, but my friend, backed up, just in time or we would have been shot, as well.”
Romero said she has been with the Lakewood Police Department for three years but her identity is not being released until her family is able to get to Colorado to be with her.