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BNSF Railway officer released from hospital after stabbing, shooting in Denver

A suspect stabbed the officer, who then shot and killed the suspect in the incident near the National Western Complex, DPD said.
Credit: Foster Gaines
BNSF Railway police were involved in a stabbing and officer-involved shooting on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, in the area of East 46th Avenue and National Western Drive in Denver.

DENVER — A BNSF Railway police officer was released from the hospital after suffering multiple stab wounds, and a suspect was fatally shot in an incident Saturday morning in Denver.

Denver Police said they were investigating the officer-involved shooting in the area of East 46th Avenue and National Western Drive. That's just north of Interstate 70 near the South Platte River. DPD said that its officers were not involved.

BNSF Railway confirmed in a statement to 9NEWS that one of their officers was injured in the line of duty. The officer was alert and being treated at a hospital, according to the statement.

DPD Division Chief Ron Thomas said that before 9 a.m., the BNSF officer approached a man, later identified as 54-year-old William Wallace, who was trespassing on their property and was wanted on a felony warrant. Wallace starting stabbing at the officer with a knife, and the officer then used a handgun to fatally shoot the suspect, according to Thomas.

The BNSF officer was in critical condition with multiple stab wounds, Thomas said.

A spokesperson for BNSF Railway confirmed the officer's injuries were treated and he was released from the hospital on Sunday.

 The BNSF officer's name has not been released. 

Thomas said there are several homeless encampments in the area where the incident happened but that he didn't know whether the suspect was a person who was experiencing homelessness.

Because BNSF officers are dispatched through a Colorado State Patrol (CSP) radio channel, CSP was able to identify that shots had been fired and started the initial response to the scene, Thomas said.

"I do think it's critical that those officers were able to monitor on their radio channel that there was something going on here so they could not only respond quickly but also notify us, so we could hasten our response as well," Thomas said.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is a freight transportation company that operates in 28 states and in Canada, and has 40,000 employees. Its headquarters is in Fort Worth, Texas. The company's Denver location is at 3700 Globeville Road.

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