Video: Paramedics, Body Armor Saved Denver Officer's Life

A Denver police officer is in the Intensive Care Unit at Denver Health Medical Center after being shot multiple times while on duty Tuesday.

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December 9, 2015

Video: Paramedics, Body Armor Saved Denver Officer's Life

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VIDEO: Paramedics, Body Armor Saved Denver Officer's Life

A Denver police officer is in the Intensive Care Unit at Denver Health Medical Center after being shot while on duty Tuesday, reports KDVR.

Officer Tony Lopez Jr. was shot multiple times, including in the torso and leg. He was in surgery for several hours.

Lopez's father, Tony Lopez Sr., is also a member of the Denver Police Department.

The shooting happened during a traffic stop in northwest Denver shortly before 11:30 a.m. in the area of West 37th Avenue and Federal Boulevard.

Police said one suspect had been shot and taken into custody in fair condition, but there could be additional suspects still at large.

Sources said police performed a PIT maneuver to disable a vehicle two miles from the shooting at 20th Street and Chestnut Place, just west of Coors Field.

Police later described the individual taken into custody as a person of interest in the shooting.

Dr. Gene Moore, who operated on Lopez, said the vest he was wearing likely saved the officer's life. Moore also said a bullet hit a main artery in Lopez's leg, but paramedics saved his life with tourniquets.

Topics:officer shot the west Colorado Traffic Stops Colorado agencies Officer wounded Ballistic Vest Saves Patrol

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