DENVER — Despite being shot multiple times while sitting in his patrol car in an unprovoked attack, a Denver Police officer managed to return fire and fatally shoot a man at a hotel early Wednesday morning.
"We are certainly thankful that we still have one of our officers," said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. "Continue to wear your bulletproof vest. I think it saved this officer's life. I think that he would say the very same thing."
The shooting happened in the 2600 block of Zuni Street around 4 a.m., Thomas said. That's near North Speer Boulevard and Interstate 25.
According to Thomas, the officer was sitting in his patrol car at the hotel when he saw a man go into the hotel. He made some kind of inquiry at the front desk and then exited a short time later, pulled out a gun, and fired into the passenger side of the officer's vehicle.
"He was able to exit the vehicle on the driver's side, seek cover and then begin returning fire," Thomas said. "There was then an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and the officer. The officer continued to fire until the suspect went down."
>Watch the full update from Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas
Both the officer and the suspect were taken to Denver Health for treatment, where the suspect died. He was identified as 35-year-old Nicholas Lendrum by the Denver Officer of the Medical Examiner, and the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.
"Thankfully, the officer is in stable condition, non-life-threatening wounds," Thomas said. "All of the rounds were apparently stopped by the bulletproof vest he was wearing."
Thomas said the officer, who has been with the department for 10 to 15 years, is with his family at the hospital. He said was in pain but reiterated that all three rounds struck his bulletproof vest and did not penetrate the officer's body.
There are cameras inside and outside of the hotel and Thomas said they're looking into obtaining that footage to learn more about what happened.
Zuni Street shooting
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