Ivan Moreno, Rocky Mountain News
Staff writer Sarah Langbein contributed to this report
Rocky Mountain News
Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
When Craig Moen thinks about Derick Dominguez, the SWAT officer injured in Sunday’s Safeway warehouse shooting, he has no doubt he’ll soon see his colleague and friend in uniform again - and on the basketball court.
“He’s a machine,” Moen said Monday. “This will just slow him down a little bit.”
Dominguez, called a “superstar” by police Chief Gerry Whitman, was wounded during a shootout in which officers killed Michael Julius Ford, 22.
Police said Ford, a Safeway employee, shot and killed a co-worker and wounded four others in the rampage.
This wasn’t the first time Dominguez risked his life for the safety of others.
In July 2003, Dominguez disarmed a knife-wielding man threatening three children during a domestic violence call. Dominguez then wrestled the man to the ground, preventing him from harming the youngsters, according to the Denver Police Protective Association, which named him officer of the month for his actions that July.
“Derick’s a solid troop. He’s done heroic acts before,” the chief said.
“We can always count on him. And he was off-duty yesterday (Sunday) and left his wife and family to come down there to get involved in this,” Whitman said.
Dominguez, who was shot in the hip and suffered a broken femur, underwent surgery Sunday at Denver Health Medical Center.
He was in serious condition Monday."He’s in considerable pain,” Whitman said.
Mayor John Hickenlooper visited Dominguez in the hospital Monday morning. Dominguez, who graduated from the police academy in 1991 at the top of his class, joined the SWAT team about five years ago.
“We’re going to miss him for a few months in every operation until he comes back,” said Moen, a SWAT technician who has known Dominguez since his days in the police academy.
Moen described Dominguez as athletic and competitive, an officer who excelled in running and everything else while in the academy.
“Till this day, I can’t beat him (at running),” Moen said.
Dominguez, whom Moen said is married and has twin toddlers, is also a talented basketball player nicknamed the “Gym Bully” by his colleagues.
“If you’re sitting in the gym, just taking up space, he doesn’t like that,” Moen said.
Dominguez is a natural leader, Moen said.
“That’s the kind of guy they look for in the SWAT team,” he said.