GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.—A former Glenwood Springs police officer shot while on solo patrol has returned to work but in a different city.
Even before he was shot July 29, Dustin Marantino had planned to work with the Rifle Police Department. He stuck with the plan and started work the week of Aug. 13.
“Even after the shooting, I can’t imagine doing anything else,” Marantino told the Post Independent for a story published Tuesday. “I don’t know what else I would do that would make me happier.”
The night he was shot, Marantino was checking out an impound lot near the Glenwood Springs airport where there had been reports of break-ins and vandalism. He saw some movement along a fence and stopped to investigate.
Marantino said he saw two men emerge and told them a few times to stop.
“As I continued to try to close the gap between us, one of them turned and produced a firearm and started shooting,” Marantino said. “It was very quick. As he turned, I saw the gun coming around. I immediately started backpedaling and began reaching for my handgun.”
One man fired a shot that struck Marantino in the chest. Even though he was wearing a bulletproof vest, it felt like someone hit him in the chest with a baseball bat, Marantino said.
He said he has little doubt the vest saved his life from the bullet.
“It was right above my aorta, so I imagine it would have been a pretty fatal wound,” he said.
Marantino returned fire and called on his radio for help.
“For that first several minutes it was kind of a roller coaster trying to figure out if (the bulletproof vest) stopped the bullet or not,” he said.
He said it seemed like an eternity as he waited in the dark for backup to arrive. He suffered only superficial injuries.
No one has been charged in the shooting.
———
Information from: Post Independent,
