A 1998 Shooting of a Cortez Police Officer Rocked the Town. 20 Years Later, We Reflect on the Story

KSJD | By Gail Binkly,

Austin Cope

Published June 8, 2018 at 12:23 PM MDT

An archived photo and caption of a 1998 memorial for Officer Dale Claxton, shared courtesy of the Four Corners Free Press

May 29th marked the 20th anniversary of the shooting death of Cortez Police Officer Dale Claxton. The incident sparked a massive manhunt, and the search for the perpertrators lasted almost a decade. KSJD's Gail Binkly worked for a local newspaper at the time, and she joined KSJD's Austin Cope on Morning Edition to remember the incident. Click below to listen.

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Gail Binkly

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.

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Austin Cope

Austin Cope is a former Morning Edition host for KSJD and now produces work on a freelance basis for the station. He grew up in Cortez and hosted a show on KSJD when he was 10 years old. After graduating from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 2010, he lived in Belgium, Ohio, Spain, northern Wyoming, and Himachal Pradesh, India before returning to the Cortez area. He has a degree in Politics from Oberlin College in Ohio.

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