Denver police mourn former officer killed while responding to Pennsylvania shooting

A former Denver police officer was killed in a shootout Saturday while confronting an armed hostage-taker at a Pennsylvania hospital.

Andrew Duarte worked as a patrol officer in Denver from 2017 to 2022 and participated in the Denver Police Department’s DUI Enforcement Unit, police wrote in a statement.

Police said Duarte served “valiantly” and was “highly regarded for his work,” earning recognition from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his efforts to keep impaired drivers off Colorado roadways.

Duarte joined the West York Borough Police Department in southern Pennsylvania in 2022, according to The Associated Press.

As a West York Borough officer, Duarte responded Saturday to the UPMC Memorial Hospital, after a gunman entered the hospital’s intensive care unit, shot and wounded employees, and took hostages.

York County District Attorney Tim Barker told reporters that police shot and killed the man as he was aiming a gun at a female hospital employee whose hands had been bound with zip ties.

Six people were shot by the gunman, including Duarte, who was the only other fatality.

The suspect was identified as Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, by Barker, who said Archangel-Ortiz had made contact with the ICU this week for “a medical purpose involving another individual” and intentionally targeted workers.

“Our community grieves the loss of a hero,” West York Borough wrote in a social media post. “Our prayers and deepest condolences go out to West York Borough Police Officer, Andrew Duarte’s family and all of our brothers and sisters in the West York Borough Police Department that have lost a comrade and friend, and furthermore our fellow Borough agencies that have lost a colleague.”