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Traffic stop ends in officer's slaying
Colorado Springs department mourns second killing of '06
Marc Piscotty © News

Linda Huscher, left, Keyshawn Davis, 5, and Shawna Davis, all of Colorado Springs, leave flowers at the site where Colorado Springs police officer Ken Jordan, 32, was killed during a routine traffic stop late Monday on East Fountain Boulevard.STORY TOOLS
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By Joe Garner And Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News
December 6, 2006
COLORADO SPRINGS - The car was weaving - probably a drunk behind the wheel late on a cold night.
Following the blue Kia Rio, a Colorado Springs police officer radioed at 11:14 p.m. Monday that he was stopping the car, which was westbound on Fountain Boulevard.

It braked on a bridge over Sand Creek, so close to the Colorado Springs Airport that you can hear the jets roar.

Officer Ken Jordan, who had a knack for talking to boozed-up drivers, pulled up to help.

It would be his last stop.

Jordan, 32, who had been a Colorado Springs officer for six years, was shot several times as he stood at the driver's side door of the Kia.

Two other officers opened fire, police said, hitting 25-year-old Marco Lee, the DUI suspect who was behind the wheel.

At 11:30 p.m. dispatchers received a chilling radio call: "Officer down!"

Less than an hour later, as more than 50 officers, united in grief, spilled out into the halls of Memorial Hospital, Jordan was pronounced dead.

Lee, who was taken to the same hospital, was in good condition late Tuesday.

"You don't know why there was a decision to shoot one officer and not another," said Interim Chief Dave Felice. "I never second-guess the mind of a suspect."

During the traffic stop, the suspect called a friend on his cell phone and suggested that he didn't want to be arrested again for drunken driving, Lee's stepbrother said Tuesday.

The stepbrother, DeAndre Barnes, told The Gazette newspaper that Lee told his friend he loved his family but was "tired of all this drama."

"I'm sorry, but this is it," Lee allegedly told his friend moments before the shooting.

Lee had run-ins with law enforcement twice previously this year.

In one incident last March, he unleashed a string of profanity and insults at the officer who stopped him for speeding. In May, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Jordan, who was single, had been with the department since 2000 and had been a DUI officer since 2004, patrolling primarily in southeast Colorado Springs. The department credits him with 584 DUI arrests.

The report of Jordan's death spread through the night over laptops in police cars. He was the second Springs officer to be killed this year. In February, Detective Jared Jensen was shot after trying to arrest Jereme Lamberth in connection with a knife attack on the suspect's sister. Lamberth was arrested after a massive search.

"Having two deaths in one year is a horrific tragedy for the police department," said Sandi Johnson, a United Methodist minister who is a volunteer police chaplain.

"It's a huge loss for the officers. These are their brothers."

Black tape across badges marked the beginning of mourning for Jordan, a strapping "gentle giant" committed to clearing the streets of drunken drivers, said Sgt. L.C. Morgan, supervisor of the DUI unit.

"Ken was a good guy," Morgan said. "I had lots of dealings with him."

Felice, who declined to say how many shots were fired, said Jordan was wearing a protective vest.

He added that the two other officers at the traffic stop, who were not identified, will be on administrative leave while the incident is investigated.

"There is nothing to indicate any officer deviated from standards," Felice said.

Lee worked at a pizza parlor in Colorado Springs and a glass company in Denver, according to police records. He lived at home with his mother.

The 25-year-old, who never graduated from high school, maintained a complex Web page on MySpace.com. He posted an album of pictures portraying himself as a happy-go-lucky young man with lots of friends.

He wrote that he liked "kicking back, going to the firing range, smoking a bowl every now and then, hanging out with friends and being outdoors."

The site of the shooting became a memorial by Tuesday afternoon. Red roses and white lilies and bouquets joined two Teddy Bears, candles and a tiny Christmas tree.

An American flag waved from the bridge railing.

A woman who signed herself "Sarah" left a handwritten note with her bouquet.

"Although I never knew you, I want to thank you for your bravery," she wrote. "I pray for your soul and your family."

A native of Chicago, Jordan is survived by his parents and a sister, according to the department.

Services have yet to be scheduled.

Donations to the Officer Ken Jordan Memorial Fund can be sent to the Colorado Springs Credit Union, 426 S. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, Colo. 80903.