Security guards perform an important and often overlooked role in our communities, quietly helping to keep the peace and protect us from harm. Their contributions -– and the risks they face in their daily rounds –- became all too clear recently with the death of Lucardio Kroener.
Kroener was on duty as a security guard in downtown Denver shortly before 2 a.m. Sept. 28 when he confronted a man who matched the description of a suspect in a shooting just minutes earlier in a neighboring block in LoDo. The victim in that shooting had been critically wounded. The suspect opened fire on Kroener, killing him.
Tellingly, it wasn’t the first time the 28-year-old Kroener had intervened in a moment of clear danger. Two weeks earlier, shortly after his shift had ended, he had helped police find and arrest a man suspected in a shooting on Market Street that had injured three people.
Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said Kroener was loved and highly regarded by downtown police officers, with whom he’d worked “hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.” Kroener hoped to become a law enforcement officer or firefighter, his family and friends said.
Dozens of city officers gathered with Kroener’s loved ones earlier this month to honor the young man as a neighborhood hero. Family members said they plan to use $1,000 provided by the Daniels Fund to start a college savings account for Kroener’s three-year-old daughter.
“Luke Kroener twice took action in very dangerous situations with the goal of keeping people safe and helping Denver police arrest shooting suspects,” said Linda Childears, president and CEO of the Daniels Fund.
The suspect in Kroener’s death, 32-year-old Harrison Hall, was later taken into custody in Louisiana on unrelated charges. Investigators credited tips from Denver residents in the arrest.
“Luke is a true hero whose desire to help others was clearly demonstrated through his actions, and it’s heartbreaking for his loved ones and our community that his life was cut short,” Pazen said.
Kroener’s mother, Stephanie Davison, said her son’s commitment to helping others was evident in elementary school when he became the protector of a classmate who was being bullied. “He was always a crusader for the weak,” she said.
This past year has been especially difficult for Colorado’s law enforcement officers. On New Year’s Eve, Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parrish was killed and four others were wounded when they were ambushed while responding to a domestic disturbance call. Adams County Deputy Heath McDonald Gumm, El Paso County Deputy Micah Lee Flick and Las Animas County Sgt. Matthew Troy Moreno also lost their lives in the line of duty in the past year.
Those incidents, among others, are reminders of the risks that law enforcement officers face on our behalf and the sacrifices and worries their families endure each day so that they can serve. This holiday season, our communities express gratitude to the men and women in law enforcement and join with the family and friends of Luke Kroener -– and the loved ones of other fallen officers -– in mourning their loss. Their courage lives with us.
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