US President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Valor to 14 fine public safety officers on Wednesday; the medal awarded is the nation’s highest honour for bravery by a public safety officer.
Trump said during the White House ceremony, “Every officer, firefighter and first responder who receives this award embodies the highest ideals of service and sacrifice, character and courage.”
And Donald Trump presented the award to a group of officers who fought a shooting at a southern California polling place.
For placing themselves in danger and helping save the lives of civilians and fellow officers during the shooting on Election Day 2016, eight men from the Azusa, Calif., police department were honoured.
When they arrived at the polling place, a person was randomly spraying rounds of bullets from a house across the street from a park. An elderly woman had lost her life as a result and a man lay injured on a sidewalk. Two vehicles had collided and a woman in one of the cars was critically injured. The shooter was eventually murdered and the public safety officers were credited for preventing other deaths and injuries.
The recipients from the Azusa, California police department were: Retired Lt. Xavier Torres; Sgt. Seth Chapman; retired Sgt. Terry Smith Jr.; Sgt. Thomas Avila III; Sgt. Rocky Wenrick; Cpl. Andrew Rodriguez Sr.; senior officer Carlos Plascencia; and detective Manuel Campos.