COLORADO SPRINGS — On Saturday, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement officers across the county mark a solemn anniversary. On February 5, 2018, El Paso County Detective Micah Flick was killed while responding to a carjacking.

That day, Flick and others pursued suspect and known gang member Manuel Zetina to Murray Hill Apartments near Galley Road and Murray Boulevard.

There, deputies say 19-year-old Zetina fired at Flick, killing him and severely injuring Deputy Scott Stone as well as Thomas Villanueva – an innocent bystander. Two other people, one an EPSO deputy, the other a detective with CSPD, were also hurt.

Deputies returned fire, killing Zetina on scene.

Flick, an 11-year veteran, left behind his wife, Rachael, and their two children.

In an emotional Facebook post, Rachael Flick wrote:

Effing grief. The body remembers. This 4th cycle of “rounding the bases” to home plate of Micah’s end of watch has been unique.

Years 1-3 we’re just pretty solidly painful. Not many breaths between painful anniversaries. Days that used to be happy are now sad without him. Days that are sad because of his death are sad.

This year has brought lighter days between the heavy ones. I have had some energy since New Years leading into Micah’s heaven birthday next week.

But today is a crawl back into bed, pull the covers over my head, big fat NOPE. If you’re not part of the community of the grieving it can be hard to relate or understand the power grief has to suck you under, against your will.

My to do list is calling, the Sun is shining, but my heart is too heavy to care. If I can sleep, I will, simply to escape consciousness of the hours as they slowly pass. February 5th is coming. And my body remembers.

Deputy Stone returned to work nearly one year after the shooting to doing polygraph analysis and training new recruits. In 2020, Stone told FOX21 he’s doing what he can to honor Flick’s memory.

“I actually tell recruits what it was like the day of the shooting, what I went through, what I experienced. What it’s like to be in that moment of crisis, where you may lose your life, but you still have to fight because there’s other people that are still in danger,” Stone said at the time. “He would be a hero.”