Family and friends of Deputy Micah Flick say he was the kind of man who would spend his days patrolling El Paso County and his nights taking care of his 7-year-old twins so his wife could attend college classes to become a counselor.
Flick, 34, was killed Monday and three law enforcement officers were wounded while trying to arrest a 19-year-old auto-theft suspect in east Colorado Springs, authorities said. The gunman was killed, and a civilian was wounded.
“Micah was truly passionate about helping those who could not help themselves,” his family said in a statement released Tuesday evening. “Knowing the risks, he pursued that mission with all he had. Our family is grieving the loss of a hero, a man who reacted instantaneously and selflessly to protect the public and fellow law enforcement officers.”
Sheriff Bill Elder said Flick was well-respected in the sheriff’s office.
“I want everyone to know that almost everybody in this agency knew him. They knew that he was not only a great deputy, he was a great father, a great husband and a great friend to many,” Elder said at a Tuesday morning news conference.
Elder also released more information about the shooting. He said Flick and the two fellow deputies were in plain clothes at the time of the shooting, but all wore their badges and announced who they were when they attempted to make the arrest. They were wearing ballistic vests when they were shot, he said.
Deputy Scott Stone, shot in the abdomen, is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Sgt. Detective Jake Abendshan, who suffered shrapnel injures, was treated and released from the hospital Monday night.
“Everybody knew Micah Flick,” Elder said during the emotion-filled briefing. “Everybody knows Scott Stone. Everybody knows Jake Abendshan. It is a shock to this agency. This is a family.”
Colorado Springs Detective Marcus Yanez was hit in the groin, Elder said later in the day. Colorado Springs police, the lead investigating agency in the shooting, have not released any information about the civilian who was injured.
The civilian, Elder said, “was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Other officers helping with the arrest as part of a regional task force cracking down on auto theft were not injured.
Friends and family on Tuesday grieved Flick’s death.
Pat Zynen, 66, who knew Flick and his family for 30 years, broke down in tears as she talked about him, whom she considered as a son. The Zynen and Flick families were more like one big family and spent holidays and vacations together. On Sunday, they gathered to watch the Super Bowl.
“I asked him for a son’s hug because I didn’t have any sons, and he gave me a hug as he always did,” Zynen said.
On Tuesday morning, Zynen and her four daughters gathered in their mother’s home and reminisced about Flick, a man they said devoted his life to serving other people.
Zynen said Flick loved the Lord and his family and spent hours with his twins, a boy and a girl.
“He was very patient and loving with them,” said Rachel Riley, 35.
At the Super Bowl gathering, Flick couldn’t stop talking about their family trip the day before to a gymnastics training session at the Air Force Academy. The twins then spent the rest of the day doing gymnastic moves on the couch and floor.
Stacey Zynen, 33, spent the Super Bowl sitting on the floor with Flick’s wife, Rachel, who told her friend how supportive her husband was being while she pursued her counseling degree.
“This was a new chapter in their lives that they were opening,” Stacey Zynen said.
As was his custom, Flick played antagonist during the game, rooting for Tom Brady and the Patriots to rile everyone who wanted the Philadelphia Eagles to win, Riley said.
“We gave him a hard time. I always really enjoyed talking with him and making him laugh,” Riley said. “He was my friend. Now the whole world knows him.”
Elder asked the public to pray for his department and Flick’s large, extended family.
“It is heartbreaking to hear a mom and wife explain to the children that Dad has been killed and is now with Jesus,” Elder said.
People can make donations to the family through the El Paso County Sheriff’s Foundation, 1980 Dominion Way, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80918.
Monday’s shooting marked the third law enforcement fatality along the Front Range since Dec. 31.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Zackari Parrish was killed Dec. 31 in a shooting at the Copper Canyon Apartments in Highlands Ranch. Four other law enforcement officers and two civilians were wounded, and the gunman was killed in the shootout.
Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Heath Gumm was killed Jan. 24 while chasing an assault suspect.
