Officer Lopez Shooting Inspires Police Agency To Donate Blood
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) - Police officers in a Denver suburb were inspired to give blood this week after hearing about the shooting of Tony Lopez Jr. They took a break from being on duty and put up their feet.
Lopez, a Denver police officer, lost nearly his entire blood supply after he was shot and critically hurt on Tuesday. Donated blood helped save his life.
On Friday officers from the Parker Police Department came to Bonfils Blood Center in Highlands Ranch to donate.
"Officer Lopez survived and because of the reports that were coming out about how important it is to actually donate blood, we came together as a department and figured what we could do for one of our fellow officers is come down together and donate blood," said Sgt. Andrew Coleman.
Officer Beverly Wilson, a detective in the department, was among those who lined up to donate on Friday. She said she has a particularly close tie to the situation. Her husband is a Denver police officer who works in the same district with Lopez's father, who is also an officer.
"If somebody is in need of any sort of assistance ... in this sort of situation officers step up," Wilson said. "That's just what we do."
No one seemed to feel squeamish; instead they showed feelings of pride in their profession.
"All officers support each other in some way, my husband also works for Denver it was just important for me to come. It's just a different brotherhood you understand on some level what they are going through what their coworkers are going through what they're feeling," said Wilson. "I think anytime we can do anything for the community or another officer it feels good"
Lopez underwent a third surgery on Friday and his condition was listed as serious.
MORE FROM BONFILS.ORG: Honor Officer Lopez with your blood donation
A mobile blood drive in Lopez's honor has also been set up by the Denver Police Protective Association. It will be held outside their Event Center at 2105 Decatur Street next Thursday. Bonfils encourages donors to reserve an appointment time at 303.363.2300 or sign up online at donors.bonfils.org with site code 7281.
Suzanne McCarroll is a general assignment reporter at CBS4. Her stories can regularly be seen on CBS4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Connect with her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @SuzanneCBS4.
