Standoff Hero 'Risked His Life' In Lakewood Domestic Attack

LAKEWOOD, CO – The Lakewood man who intervened in a July domestic violence incident and may have saved a woman's life was honored by the Lakewood City Council and Police Chief Daniel McCasky Tuesday night with the highest award given by the city.

Cameron Jones, 27, was given the Citizen Citation for Valor Award in a brief ceremony at the Lakewood City Council meeting.

Jones was recognized for an "incredibly brave and heroic act" during a July 14 Belmar incident that became an hours-long standoff with Lakewood Police's SWAT team, and ended with a man dead. (You can watch the award ceremony on the Lakewood City Council video above, starting around minute 9:00)

"These [awards] are very rare," McCasky said. "I couldn’t tell you if it’s been given out before, during my time here."

Previously unknown details about the July 14 incident that trapped many in their homes overnight as the neighborhood swarmed with armed officers emergency vehicles were revealed at the ceremony.

The incident started on a Saturday night around 9 p.m., when Jones was walking his dog and heard a woman screaming near the Ashford Belmar Apartments in the 7300 block of West Kentucky Drive.

According to McCasky, Jones determined the screams were coming from a ground-level apartment and looked through the doorway.

He saw a woman pinned on her couch by a man who was hitting her while pointing a handgun at her face, McCasky said.

"Without hesitation, Cameron entered the residence and tried to wrestle the gun away from the attacker, drawing the attention away from the battered woman," McCasky said.

The man was later identified as Dale Gordon Bush, 48, of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Bush struck Jones several times, and the woman beat Bush with the stock of a shotgun to get him off of Jones, McCasky said. Jones yelled for the woman to run away, which she did.

"Cameron struck the attacker several times and was able to gain control of the handgun," McCasky said.

Bush fled the apartment, and opened the door of a white pickup truck parked in the parking lot.

Jones followed him and tried to grab the keys from the ignition to prevent Bush from escaping, McCasky said. Bush backed the pickup truck up "recklessly," crashing into the corner of an apartment building and then drove a short distance, McCasky said.

Bush then returned to the empty apartment, where he barricaded himself inside, armed with a rifle. Police believed he fired a shot from the apartment at responding officers.

By around 9:40 p.m., the department told neighbors in the building to shelter in place. Roads were shut down for a few hours during the standoff. The SWAT team made contact with Bush in the apartment, but after several hours of talking, contact was lost. Finally, in the morning, a Jefferson County Sheriff’s bomb squad robot entered the apartment and found Bush "deceased from a self-inflicted injury," police said at the time.

The female victim later told police, "I believe 100 percent that he would have killed me if my neighbor didn’t help," McCasky said Tuesday.

"In the midst of this incident, Mr. Jones maintained an attitude of protection and demonstrated selfless care for others...You were certainly heroic that evening and showed a high level of risk and and lack of concern for your own life," McCasky said.

Jones – who said Wednesday that he had no previous police or military experience – works as a sales manager for a company that sells high-voltage electrical test equipment, he said. He grew up in Lake George, New York and moved to Lakewood with his wife a year ago.

"I greatly appreciate the honor," Jones said to the assembled City Council. "I still, to this day, don’t feel that what I did was much above and byond what any neighbor would do.

"I’m thankful my wife and I are safe and the victim was safe," Jones said. "We love this area and we love this city."

Image via Lakewood Police Department

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