“A true hero”
Denver police, family honor security guard killed Sept. 28 in pursuit of LoDo shooting suspect
In elementary school, Lucardio “Luke” Kroener noticed that one of his classmates was being bullied. Even as a child, Kroener knew he had to intervene, his mother said.
“He became that boy’s bodyguard,” Stephanie Davison said Thursday at a ceremony honoring her son’s life. “He was always a crusader for the weak.”
Kroener was protecting others again when he was killed Sept. 28 after chasing a man wanted in a LoDo shooting. The suspect fatally shot Kroener, 28, who was on duty as a security guard downtown. Two weeks earlier, Kroener had just finished work when he helped police arrest a man suspected in a different shooting that injured three people.
On Thursday, Kroener’s family and Denver police, who saw the young man as one of their own, gathered to honor the security guard. The Daniels Fund posthumously recognized Kroener as a neighborhood hero and gave his family $1,000.
Police also announced Thursday that the man suspected of killing Kroener was arrested Wednesday night in another state on a warrant for a separate crime. Police did not release the suspect’s name, but said investigators would discuss criminal charges with prosecutors in the coming days.
Kroener was working to become either a police officer or a firefighter when he was killed, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said. Kroener worked “hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder” with the police officers in downtown Denver, the chief said. He was respected and loved by the downtown officers, dozens of whom stood in the back of the room during the ceremony.
“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 was intensely focused and smart, his mom said.
“Luke listened,” Davison said. “He was a powerhouse of understanding.”
Kroener also was tender, Davison said. He built a toy box for his daughter soon after she was born. He never left out a niece or nephew when buying Christmas presents.
After Kroener died, an endless flow of friends came to the family’s house to pay their respects.
“He was like the magnet and he drew everything toward him,” Davison said.
The money from the Daniels Fund will be used to start a college fund for Kroener’s 3-yearold daughter, Emma, said Jeremiah Davison, Kroener’s brother.
“His daughter, we’ll make sure she knows who her dad is,” he said.