Public invited to memorial for Lakewood police Agent Nick Graham

A memorial service for Lakewood Police Department Agent Nick Graham will be open to residents of Lakewood and the wider Denver area, officials announced Monday, Nov. 9. The funeral will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at BRAVE Church, 3800 E. Hampden Ave., in Englewood, according to a joint news release from the department and the Colorado Fallen Hero Foundation.

The announcement came as Lakewood police returned to their regular patrol duties Monday. Law enforcement agencies from neighboring communities had covered patrols while the department mourned Graham, who was killed in a shooting the previous Thursday. He was 33 and had served with the department for seven years.

Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn, president of the Colorado Fallen Hero Foundation, urged residents to show support for Graham’s relatives and colleagues on the day of the service. Speaking Monday beside a Lakewood police vehicle covered with flowers and other tributes, he said people could stand along the procession route, wave flags or place their hands over their hearts. “Even though it might seem inconsequential or a small gesture, it’s really important,” he said.

Officials had not announced the procession route as of Monday. They said East Hampden Avenue would close between South Downing Street and South Colorado Boulevard beginning at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Police vehicles will form a “blue tunnel” along East Hampden Avenue between Downing and Monroe streets.

The shooting occurred around 6:30 p.m. the previous Thursday near Wadsworth Boulevard and West Colfax Avenue. Graham and three other Lakewood agents were boarding an RTD bus while looking for a man suspected of involvement in a hit-and-run crash. The man fired at the agents, killing Graham and wounding the other three.

Two wounded agents left the hospital Friday, and the third went home Sunday, department spokesman John Romero said. A bystander who was also injured received treatment and was released Thursday night. Police have not publicly named the three injured agents.

The Denver Post confirmed that authorities identified the gunman as Gabriel Steven Garcia, a 34-year-old parolee whose Colorado criminal history included a 2017 felony conviction for assaulting a police officer. Garcia received a 10-year prison sentence in 2019 for assaulting a police officer. According to the Colorado Department of Corrections, he had been serving a one-year sentence for trespassing and was due to finish parole in September 2027. Romero said Lakewood officers returned fire and killed Garcia.

Lakewood uses the title agent for its police officers because the department was modeled on the FBI when it was established in 1970 as the Lakewood Department of Public Safety. Donations benefiting Graham’s family and the injured officers can be made to the Lakewood Police Department Employee Assistance Foundation at https://tinyurl.com/3w5f6eu3.