The Colorado Springs Police Department is accepting cards from the community for their injured officer Cem Duzel who was injured in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect on August 2.
Duzel remains in critical but stable condition almost two weeks after the initial shootout. If you'd like to send him a thoughtful card, drop it off or mail it to...
Police Operations Center
705 South Nevada
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
With attention (ATTN) to Lt. Black. The Police Department said staff there will make sure Duzel and his family get the message.
Colorado Springs PD said in a Tuesday Facebook post they - and Duzel's family - were astounded at the amount of support he and his have received from around the country.
"Everyone's prayers help bolster the family, as do the heartfelt messages online and in cards," they wrote. "Cem continues to fight!"
Duzel is a five-year veteran of the department currently assigned to the Sand Creek division and works as a patrolman.
The suspect who shot Duzel, 31-year-old Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi, was hurt but had injuries that weren't life-threatening, police said.
He's an Iraqi national who was set for deportation before a 2016 federal appeals court rules that a portion of immigration law defining violent crime was too vague, according to the Associated Press.
A Department of Homeland Security official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said Al Khammasi was ordered removed from the country on June 13, 2016. The person was not authorized to discuss the case on the record.
According to the AP, Al Khammasi started going through deportation proceedings in 2015 when he violated probation terms of a felony trespassing plea.
Al Khammasi reportedly shot Duzel in the head.
