A police officer was seriously hurt during Denver Nuggets victory parade. What do we know?
Sadly, the Nuggets’ historic NBA Finals triumph and subsequent celebrations have been marred by tragic events from the very start. This is simply the latest.
The sad reality is that the police officer involved was doing nothing more than his duty, and now it seems the price he may pay for doing so is both sad and severe. One can only hope for the best in such a terrible situation.
Denver policeman seriously injured in Nuggets victory parade
According to reports, a Denver police officer was seriously injured during the Denver Nuggets’ NBA Championship parade while trying to keep members of the public safe from a fire truck that was carrying Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray at the time. As per reports, Sgt. Justin Dodge, a veteran police officer who was assigned to the SWAT team and has been a member of Denver’s Police Department since 1997 was hit by a fire truck that was rounding a corner at 13th and Cherokee Street, near the end of the parade route.
From what we can tell, fans entered a frenzy when they caught sight of Jokic and Murray with the Larry O’Brien trophy and began to swarm the vehicle instead of standing safely behind the barriers. Dodge, who was trying to usher people out of harm’s way after they began to crowd the street, found himself to close to the fire truck, which in turn it rolling over his left leg. Worse still, is the fact that he became stuck which resulted in a “very significant” lower leg injury.
What happened after Sgt. Justin Dodge was injured?
It is understood, that immediately after the accident occurred, players were placed in a SWAT vehicle and transported the rest of the way to Civic Center Park in order to complete the parade. As for Dodge himself, the officer was immediately taken to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. Sadly, it now appears that surgeons’ efforts were not enough. As per Steven Wolf, director of emergency medicine at Denver Health, Dodge’s injuries may in fact result in him losing his left leg. “As of right now, we can’t say what the outcome will be, we are doing everything possible to preserve the limb,” Wolf said. Unfortunately, this is now the second tragedy that has befallen the Nuggets’ post-championship celebrations, after a mass shooting that occurred immediately after their title-clinching victory on Monday left 9 people injured.